Market Recap
The cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp sell-off this week, impacting Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins significantly. Bitcoin closed below its 50-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA) for the first time since 2023, indicating a deepening sell-off. A report by Wintermute highlighted that Bitcoin and the broader crypto market exhibit higher correlation to equities during downturns than upturns, suggesting buyer exhaustion and holder capitulation.
As anticipated, altcoin sectors reacted severely to Bitcoin's decline, with most sectors suffering heavy losses. The AI token sector was not an exception to this trend.
AI Market Performance
The AI sector experienced a substantial drawdown this week. The sector's market capitalization (mcap) fell by 18.7%, reaching $24.2 billion, a level not seen since April 2025. All of the top 20 largest AI tokens are currently in negative territory for the week, though the extent of the decline varies.
Bittensor (TAO) demonstrated relative resilience compared to many other AI tokens, experiencing a more modest decline of 14.1%, thereby reinforcing its position as the leading AI token.
Looking at a broader scope, only 13% of the top 100 AI tokens managed to remain in positive territory this week. The top performers and their known catalysts include:
- •UnifAI Network (UAI): +26.7% (Catalyzed by Binance Alpha and futures listings, along with a WEEX airdrop.)
- •Nillion (NIL): +16.1% (Following the announcement of Nillion 2.0.)
- •SUPRA (SUPRA): +14.5% (Speculators were attracted by the CEO’s $1 million SupraEVM speed challenge and technical breakthroughs.)
- •Tagger (TAG): +15.1% (Sentiment was boosted by enterprise data deals and BNB Chain's purchase of 40 million TAG.)
Conversely, several projects suffered significant losses, with the most affected tokens declining by over 30%. These include:
- •Allora (ALLO): -87.1%
- •DeAgentAI (AIA): -74%
- •Sapien (SAPIEN): -38.9%
Currently, only the privacy coin sector remains in the green for the week. Data from Artemis indicates that the AI sector ranks as the 15th worst-performing sector among the 24 tracked by the platform.
Navigating the Current Market
Given the present market conditions, it is advisable to undertake some fundamental portfolio management steps:
- Limit Leverage: Maintain low leverage to mitigate the risk of liquidation during periods of high volatility.
- Review Holdings: Market downturns provide an opportune moment to divest from underperforming assets and strengthen positions in more robust ones.
- Capital Preservation: It is always prudent to maintain some available capital, often referred to as "dry powder," to capitalize on market inefficiencies or acquire tokens at critical pivot points.
AI News Roundup
Despite the bearish price action, several significant developments occurred within the AI space this week. Here is a recap of some of the most noteworthy events:
Tether Explores $1.2 Billion Investment in Neura Robotics
Stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly in negotiations to lead Neura Robotics' next funding round with a $1.2 billion investment. This deal would value the German humanoid-robotics startup at nearly $10 billion and signifies Tether's continued expansion into AI, robotics, and real-world infrastructure.
PoobahAI Secures Seed Funding to Scale AI-Built Blockchains
PoobahAI has successfully raised a $2 million seed round, led by FourTwoAlpha. The funding will be used to expand its no-code platform and MCP Server, which enables AI agents to create blockchains, deploy tokens, manage airdrops, and automate DeFi workflows across multiple networks.
Aethir and SACHI Collaborate to Bring AAA Web3 Gaming to the Cloud
Decentralized GPU provider Aethir has partnered with Web3 iGaming metaverse SACHI. This collaboration aims to stream AAA Unreal Engine 5 casino and gaming experiences from Aethir's cloud infrastructure, promising hardware-free, AI-enhanced personalization for on-chain gamers.