NEAR Leads Grayscale's AI Crypto Sector With 183% September Gain
Key Takeaways
- •NEAR gained 183% in September to lead Grayscale's AI Crypto Sector, ahead of Venice at 70%, World at 47%, and Bittensor at 37%.
- •The AI-focused crypto sector rose 54% in September, finishing roughly 30 percentage points ahead of the broader market's 24% return.
- •Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl attributed the outperformance to rising interest in blockchain infrastructure for AI, with potential uses including agent payments, digital identity, private computing, and verifiable records.
- •NEAR is developing a platform for agentic commerce, in which AI agents transact and pay for services on users' behalf, and was co-founded by Illia Polosukhin, a researcher involved in creating the transformer architecture.
- •Despite the rally, the AI crypto sector remains the smallest of Grayscale's six sectors at an estimated $15 billion, and the firm frames the prospect of major winners over five years as its outlook rather than an established outcome.
NEAR led Grayscale's Artificial Intelligence Crypto Sector in September, surging 183% over the month to outpace Venice, World, and Bittensor, according to a report published by the asset manager's research arm.
The AI-focused sector rose 54% during September, outperforming the broader crypto market's 24% return, according to Grayscale's monthly sector update. Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl attributed the performance to growing interest in blockchain infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
NEAR Tops September's AI Token Gains
Four tokens highlighted in Grayscale's report delivered the sector's largest gains for the month. NEAR rose 183%, Venice (VVV) gained 70%, World's WLD token increased 47%, and Bittensor's TAO advanced 37%.
According to Pandl, NEAR is developing a platform for agentic commerce — an emerging model in which AI agents transact and pay for services on behalf of users. The project was co-founded by Illia Polosukhin, a researcher involved in the development of the transformer architecture, the 2017 design that underpins most of today's large language models.
Bittensor, for its part, operates an open ecosystem of specialized AI networks, with applications spanning inference, AI agents, data, and computing resources. World, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, provides a proof-of-human network. Venice offers a privacy-focused consumer AI chatbot that allows users to access AI models without their prompts or responses being stored.
Blockchain's Potential Role in AI Infrastructure
Pandl said artificial intelligence development remains concentrated among a handful of companies, despite its potential significance as a technology. He noted that public blockchains could complement centralized AI systems through open infrastructure.
Potential applications include agent payments, digital identity, private computing, and verifiable records. The sector's strong showing in September came as investors displayed growing interest in these blockchain-based applications.
AI Crypto Sector Remains the Smallest of Grayscale's Six
Despite its monthly gains, the AI-focused sector remains the smallest of the six sectors in Grayscale's Crypto Sectors framework, which categorizes the digital asset market. Pandl estimated its market value at approximately $15 billion, even after the September rally.
Grayscale's research suggests the sector could produce one or more major winners over the next five years. However, Pandl's report identifies this as the firm's outlook rather than an established outcome.
The September performance left the AI-focused sector roughly 30 percentage points ahead of the broader crypto market. Grayscale's next monthly sector update will offer a reading on whether the category's outperformance extended beyond September.
