For cryptocurrency investors, today's price action has been mixed, with each of the top 10 cryptos by market capitalization dropping over the past day, as of 2:30 p.m. ET. However, as is the case on any given day, there are always outperformers investors are watching more closely, with today being no different.
Three cryptocurrencies with ties to artificial intelligence (AI)-related tailwinds are seeing marked rises in today's session. As of 2:30 p.m. ET, Internet Computer (ICP -1.09%), Fetch.ai (FET -1.65%), and Chainlink (LINK -3.95%) are up 14.7%, 7.1%, and 2.9% respectively. Notably, Chainlink's most recent numbers reflect a steep decline off of this morning's peak, in which the token surged more than 15%.
These moves are all reflective of broadly bullish investor sentiment around the recent AI rally in risk assets, which continues to permeate the digital asset space. However, each of these projects have their own idiosyncratic catalysts worth diving into.
What's driving these AI cryptos higher today?
Internet Computer just won't stop moving higher. Yesterday, I covered the token's surge from Friday's close, noting strong momentum coming out of the weekend trade. That momentum has only picked up steam, with investors continuing to focus on the network's recent announcement that AI smart contracts will be integrated into the Internet Computer network. These smart contracts will allow for an entirely new AI framework allowing for the development of AI applications, which the market is increasingly focusing on. If the network's performance metrics continue to improve, as the parent company DFinity expects, this is certainly a project that could see much more upside from a fundamentals perspective.
Fetch.ai is a project aimed at democratizing access to AI technology via the network's permissionless structure, which allows for open and decentralized machine learning and AI applications. This project's open network design has led some experts to suggest that Fetch.ai could benefit from a number of utility-generating real-world verticals in areas such as smart energy grids, travel, transportation services, and other DeFi applications. Crypto analysts point to these potential verticals, as well as increased interest around AI-driven altcoins, as reasons why this rally in FET could continue.
Chainlink's impressive move this morning appears to be tied to the project's latest integration with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). Chainlink Labs and ANZ have announced a collaboration that will see on-chain settlement solutions for this banking group commence, driven by Chainlink's interoperability solution, named the cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP). As a top oracle solution (allowing off-chain data to be ported to the blockchain), Chainlink is seen as a key piece of the infrastructure needed for meaningful crypto integrations between decentralized finance and traditional financial players.
Strong momentum appears poised to continue
Each of these AI-related projects certainly provide impressive potential as gatekeepers to future blockchain-based AI solutions. Given the innovative nature of blockchain technology and the developers building on these networks, the intersection of crypto and AI is certainly a compelling niche for growth investors to explore. Indeed, if significant progress can be made on utilizing blockchain technology to create AI applications that are less energy-intensive to use (given the existing footprint of these networks), investors could capture significant value from owning a piece of these networks via their utility tokens.
Of course, most AI-related applications and on-chain advancements are still in their early stages of development. These crypto networks will need to show growth in terms of users, transactions, and other key metrics in order for this narrative-driven rally to continue. But for now, many crypto investors continue to focus more intently on such projects, given the progress being made in terms of partnerships, collaborations, and technology improvements.
