The next big era after Bitcoin? Top encryption investors betting on more than a dozen DeAI projects

Original Title: Decentralized AI Opportunity Is ‘Bigger than Bitcoin,’ Says DCG’s Barry Silbert

Original author: Danny Nelson

Source: coindesk

Translation: Mars Finance, Daisy

Quick View:

Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert said that decentralized AI is the next major era of cryptocurrency.

He stated in a letter that the company has invested over $105 million in more than ten decentralized artificial intelligence projects.

Cryptocurrency investment giant Barry Silbert is making a big bet on decentralized artificial intelligence (decentralized AI), calling it “the next major era of cryptocurrency,” possibly surpassing Bitcoin.

In a letter to shareholders of its cryptocurrency group Digital Currency Group (DCG), Silbert expressed strong optimism for decentralized artificial intelligence (deAI) - an attempt by the cryptocurrency industry to integrate AI innovation with blockchain technology. He believes that this technological integration may bring greater returns to humanity than the closed systems being developed by OpenAI and other tech giants.

“We are moving from ownership of digital assets to decentralized smart ownership, as well as the availability of massive decentralized computing resources,” Silbert wrote in CoinDesk’s fourth-quarter review.

This trend reminds Silbert of Bitcoin - the world’s most well-known and largest cryptocurrency, which is also the field where he initially accumulated encrypted wealth. But rather than calling de-centralized Artificial Intelligence (deAI) a currency revolution, it is more a power revolution, with encryption technology becoming the core mechanism for distributing ownership and governance of powerful AI models.

DCG also shares the same view. Silbert stated in the letter that the company has invested $105 million in more than ten decentralized artificial intelligence (deAI) projects, and “we are excited to increase our investment in 2025.”

He specifically mentioned DCG’s investment in Bittensor, a cryptographic network focused on machine learning and AI applications, and believes that the company is closest to achieving ‘escape velocity’ (breakthrough growth). He pointed out that Bittensor’s TAO token is similar to Bitcoin in many ways.

It is worth noting that the market value of TAO is currently 27 billion U.S. dollars, which is only a ‘fraction’ compared to the estimated value of nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars for Bitcoin.

DCG plans to invest heavily in the Bittensor ecosystem. Silbert mentioned that DCG established a company named Yuma in November 2023, specifically incubating the Bittensor infrastructure project. In addition, DCG’s subsidiary Grayscale has launched related investment products to provide channels for institutions and investors to access TAO.

Silbert’s fourth-quarter letter also marked the end of a year-long “rebuilding period” for DCG. The company went through a period of turmoil after the FTX crash led to the collapse of its lending business Genesis. And DCG also sold CoinDesk to Bullish at the end of 2023. However, he said that DCG’s five major business segments all achieved success in 2024.

“Over the past few years, we have consistently maintained strict self-discipline, which has not only made our infrastructure and processes more mature, but also significantly improved our governance structure, making DCG a stronger company and focused on executing our growth plan,” Silbert wrote.