AI is the utility sector I'm most bullish on for 2025. We're already starting to see the early signs of a rotation,…

AI is the utility sector I'm most bullish on for 2025. We're already starting to see the early signs of a rotation, but the real upside is yet to come. This could be the biggest opportunity of the bull run. 🧵: Revealing my top 10 AI altcoins for huge upside.👇

In this thread, I'll cover: • The current state of the AI sector • My thesis on AI x crypto • The top AI verticals • My AI crypto portfolio (10 picks + 1 bonus) Let's dive in.👇

Firstly, let's discuss the opportunity at hand.

The global AI market grew ~$50B between 2023-2024. It's expected to grow at a 28.46% CAGR from here, crossing $826B by 2030.

It's predicted that AI's Total Addressable Market (TAM) could exceed $12T in the next 6-7 years. If decentralised AI captures just 5% of this, it'll be worth $600b (a 15x from here). And applying a 3x speculative premium, this sector presents a ~$1.8T opportunity (45x from here).

Over the past few months, we've seen AI dominate mindshare, accounting for almost 1/3 of attention in crypto.

Yet, AI is still only the 34th ranked crypto sector by market cap (on CG), behind liquid staking, dog memes, DeFi and more. I could easily see AI as a top 5-10 sector in a year's time.

This means there is still a massive opportunity. Many mid-low cap AI tokens are still sitting at ridiculously low valuations. All it takes is a strong rotation into AI for many of these to quickly reprice 5-10x higher.

Here's my fundamental thesis as to why AI crypto is set for huge growth:

1. EVERYONE is becoming aware of just how impactful AI will be on society. Either people are scared, excited, or intrigued by the latest developments. This already cements AI in general in the minds of the masses.

2. AI is constantly innovating, and new products are regularly shipping. Every time a new AI product is released, this puts even more focus on the sector. And crypto is an attention economy. More eyeballs = more speculation.

3. Crypto is a lower barrier/friction proxy to get exposure to the growth of AI. Crypto is easier to access, able to be fractionalised, and generally "cheaper" than investing in, let's say, AI equities. For retail, this is a massive benefit.

4. The recent rise of AI agents has FINALLY made people aware of the power of AI x crypto. We're haven't even realised 0.01% of their potential yet, but it has served as a powerful "aha moment" for the AI sector in general.

I personally believe we're moving into a future where AI agents will trade autonomously on chain for you, manage your portfolio/risk, DeFi and more. It's going to completely change the landscape of crypto.

And it's also happening in traditional tech too. From Adobe to Expedia, many top corporations have built & integrated AI Agents in the past 1-2 years. This trend is only going to increase.

So, how does the overall landscape of the AI x Crypto space currently look?

Primarily, we have: 1. AI Agents & agent infra 2. Computation + DePIN 3. Decentralised LLMs 4. AI blockchains/infra for AI dApps

I'm investing in all of these verticals, with a particular focus on agent/AI infrastructure. Today, I'm not going to focus on individual AI agents/memes or broader DePIN plays, instead focusing primarily on pick-and-shovel infrastructure protocols.

Disclaimer: I hold all of the following projects in my portfolio. To ensure transparency: * = strategic advisor + investor ^ = invested via OTC (I'm also working on a new website page which discloses all of my personal financial interests), which should be live next week.

This list will be ordered from the largest market cap, to the lowest market cap. Typically, the risk of a project increases as the market cap decreases. More upside, but more risk. Thus, not all of these tokens should be weighted equally in your portfolio.

I recommend that you do your own research, and if you DO decide to take a position in any of these protocols, make sure to manage position sizing/risk in line with your goals/overall strategy. My personal balance is ~70% large caps/30% small-mid caps.

Let's dive in.👇

1. @bittensor_ $TAO is the AI market leader, and if it performs well, the entire sector is set to benefit. TAO focuses on decentralising AI research, and has already seen significant adoption in scientific communities.

Miles Deutscher@milesdeutscher · Mar 8, 2024

• @bittensor_ $TAO decentralises AI research through crypto. The network is built up of subnets, each focusing on ML functions like prompting, pre-training etc. Subnet participants get rewarded in $TAO for contributing intelligence, peer-reviewing & training other AI models.

With the recent rollout of EVM compatibility, the network has taken a huge step forward, opening the door for developers to build DeFi ecosystems and unlock new use cases.

Daniel Cheung@HighCoinviction · Nov 26, 2024

The Bittensor ecosystem feels primed for a parabolic surge over the coming months with today’s rollout of EVM compatibility. EVM compatibility is a massive unlock given it: 1) Expands Bittensor programmability, enabling new applications like DeFi to emerge 2) Enhances subnet mechanism design space, enabling more complex subnets to be deployed 3) Enables greater interoperability and more sophisticated custody solutions, which substantially opens the door for new capital to flood into the ecosystem The groundwork continues to be laid for Bittensor to solidify itself as the leading AI L1 of the cycle.

2. @NEARProtocol $NEAR stands out in the crypto sector as the leading L1 x AI play. For those bullish on both verticals, NEAR serves as a solid proxy.

Fun fact: Since its mainnet launch in October 2020, it has maintained 100% uptime.

Bowen Wang@BowenWang18 · Nov 22, 2024

NEAR has never gone down since mainnet launch in Oct 2020. Something that almost no one appreciates...

3. @getgrass_io $GRASS has become a standout launch this cycle, thanks to its data pipeline that seamlessly connects the real world with AI x Crypto. @Rewkang predicts explosive growth, forecasting revenues could soar to high 9 figures by next year.

Andrew Kang@Rewkang · Nov 25, 2024

Recent developments in AI make data one of the most valuable commodities in the world @getgrass_io uses crypto incentives to create a data pipeline that most AI companies otherwise cannot tap into. At current pace of growth it seems they are on track for high 9 figure revenue/billions by next year We've looked at a lot of crypto x AI projects but unfortunately, most are not investable. $Grass one of the top legitimate fundamental projects to come out of this cycle

As highlighted by this tweet from @0xdrej, the demand for the $GRASS network is undeniable, and the protocol's future looks incredibly promising. This was aided by a well-conducted airdrop which has managed to organically build a loyal community.

Andrej@0xdrej · Nov 14, 2024

Grass has been overloaded with demand since network launch. Excited for the future grassfoundation.io/network/stats

4. @Spectral_Labs $SPEC is one of the leading AI agent infra plays, allowing anyone deploy and engage with AI Agents.

Spectral@Spectral_Labs · Nov 8, 2024

Imagine AI agents that don’t just learn, but act autonomously on-chain—trading and engaging communities, all without a human at the wheel. 👀With Spectral’s new update, our agents come with their own wallets, trading on @HyperliquidX , and even gated governance tg groups for real-time interaction.

With Syntax V2, you'll be able to interact with sentient agents with personalities, which trade on Hyperliquid in accordance with the community's input. It's an interesting mix of fun/collaboration + speculation.

Spectral@Spectral_Labs · Nov 25, 2024

Memes: once static, passive symbols of shared ideas. With Syntax V2, they become sentient—living agents of action, value, and culture. Imagine interacting with Pepe, not just as a meme, but as a personality. 🐸✨ More details coming soon. 👀

5. @modenetwork^ Although many know mode as an L2, behind the scenes they've been building AI tech for over a year. They are leading the future of DeFi via facilitating the deployment of AI-driven agents, which will autonomously farm yield/optimise your portfolio on your behalf.

Mode 🟡@modenetwork · Nov 26, 2024

It’s live. Olas Modius alpha, an AI Agent built on @autonolas, is now farming yield on Mode mainnet with real funds. A historic moment for crypto, DeFi, and AI. The genie is out of the bottle. Learn how to secure early access below.