AI Tokens Take The Baton From Memecoins To Lead A Market Resurgence

After last week’s bloodbath, cryptocurrency prices began climbing northwards again, this time on the backs of projects linked to artificial intelligence (AI).

The price resurgence sees AI-themed tokens record the largest gains over one week, with leading tokens easily racking double digits. AI-based RNDR spiked by over 40% on the seven-day charts to be the biggest gainer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Placed side by side with other niches, other AI-themed tokens were no match for the broader market. Fetch.ai (FET) climbed by 23% in a week to erase previous losses, while Bittensor (TAO) and SingularityNet (AGIX) basked in double-digit gains as well.

For comparison, Bitcoin could only manage a sub-4% gain over the same period, while Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) barely recorded gains of 1%.

A bird’ s-eye view of the broader financial markets offers some insights into the AI-backed resurgence of cryptocurrencies. Following the upcoming release of company financials, experts predict AI chip manufacturer Nvidia will post impressive results for Q1, with one analyst eyeing earnings of $5.49 per share.

“There is a strong buzz around Nvidia’s impending earnings,” said one analyst. “AI coins will keep having cyclical runs as they are directly correlated with the whole AI-side development happening around us.”

The AI ecosystem has been buzzing with activity since the tail end of 2022, accentuated by the launch of several AI models by leading industry players. OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic have emerged as frontrunners for the space while others are turning to blockchain for their AI offerings.

A cross-section of analysts expect the AI craze to continue for the foreseeable future, buoyed by the injection of fresh capital into the design and commercial rollout of powerful AI models.

“OpenAI will launch a new model in the coming months, better hardware will be developed, and more funds will be injected into the space,” said DYOR founder Hitesh Malviya. “We are in an AI super cycle right now.”

Memecoins may be running out of steam

In Q1, memecoins hogged the spotlight with impressive returns for investors but recent on-chain data points to a flippening. While Dogecoin (DOGE) appears headed to 20% gains over the course of a week, other memecoins have not had a rosy climb in recent days.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is down nearly 4% over the last 24 hours while Pepe (PEPE) suffered a 6.19% slip in the same time frame. Solana-based dogwifhat (WIF) appears to be the biggest loser with losses cantering toward 12% over the last day with analysts opining that investors may be paying close attention to the utility of tokens.