Grayscale Launches New Fund Targeting Decentralized Artificial Intelligence

Grayscale Investments has launched a new fund focused on decentralized artificial intelligence, seeking to provide accredited investors with exposure to protocols that merge blockchain and artificial intelligence.

Accredited investors can now gain exposure to decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) protocols through a new fund launched by Grayscale Investments. The Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund is designed to capitalize on the growing convergence of blockchain and AI technologies.

The fund will comprise a portfolio of decentralized AI protocols, including Near (NEAR) at 32.99%, Filecoin (FIL) at 30.59%, Render (RNDR) at 24.86%, Livepeer (LPT) at 8.64%, and Bittensor (TAO) at 2.92%. The composition of the fund will be rebalanced quarterly to maintain its relevance and competitiveness in the rapidly evolving crypto market.

Grayscale’s fund focuses on three primary categories of decentralized AI assets: protocols building decentralized AI services, those addressing problems related to centralized AI, and infrastructure and resources critical to the development of AI technology.

“Blockchain-based protocols embody the principles of decentralization, accessibility, and transparency, and we believe that these protocols can help mitigate the fundamental risks that arise with the proliferation of AI technology,” said Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research.

The launch of the Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund comes amid growing interest in decentralized alternatives to conventional AI technologies. In January, decentralized AI projects received a boost when Nvidia, a publicly traded chip maker, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, which sparked interest in the sector.

While fundraising and valuations have decreased compared to last year’s massive AI boom, venture capital is still flowing into decentralized AI projects. Earlier this month, Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon and a principal contributor to Sentient, announced that Sentient had raised $85 million in a round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

“The rapid advancement of AI has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives, but the concentration of power in the hands of a few centralized entities presents significant risks,” Nailwal said. “By building an open platform for general AI (AGI) development, we can ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed equitably and its development aligns with the interests of humanity as a whole.”