NEAR Leads AI Token Rally As Grayscale Sees Sector's Potential
The NEAR Protocol (NEAR) token has led a September rally in artificial intelligence (AI) tokens, according to Grayscale's latest research note. The firm's AI crypto sector gained more than double the broader market's rise, with a 54% increase compared to the broader market's 24%. NEAR jumped 183% during September, while other AI-linked tokens like Venice (VVV), World (WLD), and Bittensor (TAO) climbed 70%, 47%, and 37% respectively.
Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl pointed to blockchains as potential infrastructure for AI agent payments, identity, and private compute. He noted that public blockchains could provide 'open infrastructure for agent payments, identity, private compute, and verifiable records.'
The rally was followed by a setback for the NEAR ecosystem last week, with a bug detected in NEAR Intents' Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interaction with the protocol's smart contract. The bug led to losses of about $3.8 million, but NEAR Intents said that 'These funds will be compensated in full.'
NEAR is up over 211% so far this year and rose over 55% in the last 12 months.