Grayscale Launches Artificial Intelligence-Focused Crypto Fund; AI Tokens Gain

Grayscale, the investment firm behind one of the largest spot bitcoin ETFs (GBTC), has introduced Wednesday a new digital asset fund that invests in artificial intelligence-focused (AI) tokens.

The Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund is accessible to accredited investors, and "was designed to capture the growth of protocols at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence," the company said.

The fund has initially invested in the native tokens of crypto AI protocols Bittensor (TAO), Filecoin (FIL), Livepeer (LPT), Near (NEAR) and Render (RNDR) and will rebalance its holdings quarterly.

The tokens gained immediately following the announcement, with prices up 1%-3% over the past hour, CoinGecko data shows.

I'm quite excited about this new @Grayscale AI fund$NEAR $RNDR $FIL $LPT $TAO https://t.co/KkWfs4Vdgg

— Barry Silbert (@BarrySilbert) July 17, 2024

"The blockchain-based AI protocols embody the principles of decentralization, accessibility, and transparency, and the Grayscale team feels strongly that these protocols can help mitigate the fundamental risks emerging alongside the proliferation of AI technology," Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s head of product and research, said in the press release.