Bitcoin slips as memecoins lead loses; GBTC discount to NAV widens

Cryptocurrency prices slipped across the board, even as the sector buzzes about the future of AI and big data tokens.

Bitcoin was trading at $22,722 by 9:35 a.m. EST, down 1.5% over the past day, according to TradingView data. 

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

Ether fell 1.6% over the past 24 hours, trading at about $1,645. Binance’s BNB dropped 3%, while Cardano’s ADA fell 2.8%. Dog-themed memecoins experienced sharper sell-offs, with dogecoin down 3.1% and shiba inu losing 5.2%.

Structured products

Grayscale’s bitcoin trust, GBTC, has been trading down throughout the week, having reached a high of $12.93 last week. The fund’s discount to net asset value has also widened to 43.5%, the widest gap since early January, according to The Block data.

AI and big data x blockchain

Artificial intelligence and big data tokens have rallied recently on the back of a sudden fascination with AI chatbots, but the move has split opinions, with Fantom’s Lead Developer Andre Cronje saying AI and blockchain aren’t complimentary. 

The convergence between machine learning and blockchain data could be a “killer use case,” according to 21Shares Director of Research Eli Ndinga, who stated that “blockchain data is a dark and complex forest with mechanisms that varies across ecosystems like Ethereum and Solana.”

“The Graph (GRT), up 147% in 30 days, built a global API to index blockchain data across dozens of ecosystems to retrieve for example, token prices on decentralized exchanges without the need to download a full node,” he added.

GRTUSD chart by TradingView

Ndinga said the tokenization of assets and more use cases will dominate crypto, giving blockchain infrastructure players like The Graph an important role in accessing blockchain data such as using AI to label wallets and spot patterns of certain wallets. This will also create applications for investors and law enforcement.

“A concrete example is retrieving lost funds in the aftermath of a hack or after debacles like FTX,” he said.

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