Hey folks,
AI is everywhere in 2025.
But in crypto, the real story is decentralized AI, or deAI. We’ve been diving deep into the trend. And in this newsletter, we’ll unpack it for you.
What is AI today? Think about ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google Gemini. These are powerful AI models, but they sit inside company servers. The company controls the data, the training, and the profits. Users have no say in how the AI is built or used. That is centralized AI.
DeAI flips this model. Instead of being locked up, the models, the computing power, and the agents run on open networks. Anyone can contribute, and anyone can get rewarded.
Why does it matter? Because AI is getting too powerful to stay in the hands of a few. DeAI spreads that power, keeps it transparent, and gives both builders and users a real stake in the system.
And finally, here are three projects that stand out.
- Bittensor is building open markets for machine learning models.
- Artificial Superintelligence Alliance is creating the rails for agents and AI services to interact on-chain.
- Render unlocks global GPU power for anyone who needs it.
Together, they show how crypto can push AI beyond the control of a few companies and into open networks powered by communities.
Bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) is building a decentralized network where anyone can train, serve, and reward AI models on open subnets. The pitch is simple to grasp: plug models into a marketplace and let incentives surface the best ones.
The project was co-founded by Jacob Steeves and Ala Shaabana. Steeves worked at Google and studied math and computer science; Shaabana brings a research background in machine learning (ML).
Why it matters: Bittensor has drawn serious attention from some of the most influential VCs in crypto, Polychain, and DCG.
DCG also launched a Bittensor-focused venture called Yuma, which focuses on funding projects, startups, and developers building on Bittensor.
TAO isn’t just another token. With both big money backing and a growing developer/academic following, it’s becoming a signal project that shows how decentralized AI could take shape, making TAO a bellwether for “deAI.”
As of Sept 8, 2025, TAO is trading around $332 with a market cap of around $3.26 bn.
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance
Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Protocol decided they would be stronger together than apart. In mid-2025, they launched the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, a merger that brings three of the biggest AI-crypto projects under one banner.
The first step was straightforward: consolidate the AGIX and OCEAN tokens into FET, with a later shift to the ASI ticker. This created a single token economy to support a shared stack for autonomous agents, AI services, and decentralized data markets.
The people leading the charge include Humayun Sheikh, founder of Fetch.ai and an early investor in DeepMind. Alongside him are Toby Simpson, who worked on agent-based systems at DeepMind, and Prof. Thomas Hain, a well-regarded machine learning researcher from the University of Sheffield.
Why it matters: Instead of competing for attention and resources, these three communities are joining forces. The alliance wants to offer an open alternative to centralized AI models by combining research, developer talent, and liquidity.
The token, still showing as FET for now, is trading at about $0.64 with a market cap of around $1.53 bn as of September 8, 2025.
Render
Render was born out of OTOY, a graphics company founded by Jules Urbach that became a leader in GPU-based cloud rendering for Hollywood and the gaming industry.
Urbach launched Render to take that idea further, creating a decentralized network where anyone with spare GPU power can rent it out to artists, developers, and AI projects.
The mission is simple to grasp: connect underused compute with people who need it for heavy jobs like 3D graphics, AR and VR, and AI-driven image generation. The RNDR token acts as the currency that keeps this marketplace moving.
Multicoin Capital, Alameda Research (now defunct), and the Solana Foundation helped fund the project's early growth.
Why it matters: GPUs are the backbone of both AI and creative work, yet they are scarce and expensive. Render’s network unlocks unused hardware and makes it available on demand, which could become even more critical as AI adoption soars.
As of September 8, 2025, RENDER trades near $3.58 with a market cap of around $1.86 bn.
In the past week, BTC traded in a wide $109K–$114K range, with sharp rallies and quick reversals. Meanwhile, ETH experienced volatile action, fluctuating between $4,200 and $4,450 throughout the week. Among top-performing altcoins, WLD, PUMP, and FORM registered significant gains.
Weekly price movement:
BTC $111,559 ⏫ 1.91% (7d)
ETH $4,295 ⏬ 3.93% (7d)
WLD $1.25 ⏫ 40.2% (7d)
PUMP $0.004 ⏫ 37.12% (7d)
FORM $3.88 ⏫ 26.77% (7d)
(All data here as of 2:00 p.m., 8 September 2025)
Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.
The Solana community voted overwhelmingly in favor of the long-awaited Alpenglow upgrade, bringing the network one step closer to the most significant technical transformation in its history. According to Solana Status on X, 98.27% of SOL stakers that voted approved the proposal, with only 1.05% voting against and 0.36% abstaining. In total, 52% of the network’s stakers participated in the vote, according to CoinDesk.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy missed out on being added to the S&P 500 index on Sept. 5, despite hopes of inclusion after the company posted one of the strongest quarters in its history and met all criteria for joining the index. The stock of the largest corporate Bitcoin holder declined nearly 3% after market hours, erasing all of Friday’s gains. At the same time, digital trading platform Robinhood was included in the S&P 500 index, according to CoinDesk.
That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.
See you later, folks! 👋