Key facts
- The Venice VVV token surged 34% to $24.77, reaching a new all-time high.
- The token's rise was linked to a public dispute over AI data privacy between an NYU mathematician and OpenAI.
- Venice offers a decentralized AI platform where prompts remain on the user's device.
- The VVV token acts as an access key for API inference capacity on the Venice platform.
- Venice reported an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $100 million in August.
- Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Zcash (ZEC) also saw significant price increases.
The Venice VVV token experienced a significant surge, climbing 34% to $24.77 and reaching a new all-time high. This price action was reportedly catalyzed by a public dispute between an NYU mathematician and OpenAI concerning the credit for fluid dynamics proofs and the potential misuse of private chatbot conversations.
The controversy has amplified the narrative around data privacy in AI, a core tenet of Venice's platform. Venice, founded by ShapeShift's Erik Voorhees, aims to provide an AI platform where prompts remain on the user's device, utilizing open-source models without content filtering or account requirements. The VVV token serves as an access key, granting API inference capacity when staked, with a secondary token, DIEM, providing perpetual API credits. Venice has been reducing VVV emissions and uses a portion of its revenue to buy back and burn VVV tokens. The project reported passing a $100 million annualized revenue run rate in August.
The increased focus on privacy in the crypto space is also reflected in the performance of other assets. Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, broke out of a 9-year range to new all-time highs above $1,200, driven by demand for wealth privacy amid discussions of potential billionaire taxes. The narrative for private AI is strengthening, with crypto protocols offering alternatives to frontier AI labs potentially leveraging user data.
In broader crypto markets, major cryptocurrencies saw gains, with Bitcoin up 2% at $79.5k and Ethereum up 2% at $2,510. Other altcoins like LIT also hit new all-time highs. However, Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows of $47 million on Tuesday, while ETH ETFs saw $24 million in outflows. In corporate news, Circle announced its agreement to acquire Singapore-based payments firm Tazapay for $400 million in stock.
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