This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe . The AI/crypto narrative seems to have died down, despite some mentions of it during DAS (AI itself was a hot topic). But while the narrative may not be top of mind, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist anymore. Pantera’s Cosmo Jiang believes that both AI and crypto — together and separately — are two of the biggest disruptors today. Jiang’s background is in tech investing, which makes the way he views opportunities unique in comparison to some players in the space. For example, Jiang said that the wildly volatile nature of crypto can simply be boiled down to the fact that it’s a space dominated by startups, which sometimes justifies the craziness. Eventually, though, Jiang believes that we’ll see a more fundamental focus enter the market via institutional capital. Jiang specifically is looking for a return on time as well as the “biggest growth areas” that’ll be rife with disruption — particularly areas where there’s an abundance of debate and disagreement. It’s obvious to Jiang that “AI is uniquely enabled by crypto, and that blockchain … can be helped by AI in a few ways.” The talent pool also possesses a heavy amount of crossover already. “AI naturally creates abundance and blockchain naturally creates scarcity,” he noted. It wouldn’t surprise Jiang if we see a world — 10 or 15 years down the line — where AI is as frequently used as the internet is today. And that’s where he has some alpha for all of you. Jiang is closely watching projects like Grass , which he praised as doing an “incredible job getting multimodal data in a very unique way that could not have been done without a decentralized network. Lo and behold, they’re now selling their data to the largest AI companies that you and I all probably use in our everyday life.” Then there’s Bittensor, which is dominating in token incentives. Pantera previously showed support for Bittensor, and a 2023 update from Bittensor said the venture capital firm bought TAO as well as expressing interest in “supporting the ecosystem.” “Historically, open source developers or researchers have never been able to be compensated for their open source work,” Jiang said. But the idea is that you could compensate them with token incentives that could be monetized. That then becomes a “very sustainable system.” Bittensor “is such an interesting instantiation of the first time on a very global basis and a bit scaled basis, open-source research can be profitable for those who don’t want to go to big tech companies and become close source.” And there you have it folks — some early morning alpha to go with your coffee. Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: Blockworks Daily : The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam. Empire : Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto. Forward Guidance : Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance. 0xResearch : Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more. Lightspeed : Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks. The Drop : For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
