Key Insights:

• Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), expressed that decentralized AI represents “the next big era of crypto.”
• DCG has invested over $105 million into various decentralized AI initiatives, as outlined in Silbert’s recent letter to shareholders.

Crypto investment titan Barry Silbert is making substantial investments in decentralized AI, asserting it has the potential to overshadow even Bitcoin.

In a letter to DCG shareholders, Silbert argued that decentralized AI (deAI) aims to unite AI advancements with blockchain technology, suggesting it could yield greater benefits compared to proprietary systems like those of OpenAI.

“We’re moving from the digital ownership of assets to the decentralized ownership of intelligence and the availability of vast decentralized compute resources,” Silbert remarked in the Q4 letter reviewed by CoinDesk.

Silbert compared the evolution of deAI to Bitcoin, indicating that it might initiate a revolutionary shift in power distribution through blockchain governance over influential AI frameworks.

DCG’s investment strategy highlights projects such as Bittensor, a network prioritizing machine learning and AI functionalities. Silbert mentioned that Bittensor is approaching “escape velocity,” with its TAO token seeing growth akin to Bitcoin, even though its market capitalization remains substantially lower.

The letter concludes a transformative year for DCG following challenges faced in 2023, enhancing operational resilience and positioning the organization for anticipated growth in 2025.