Filecoin

NEAR Protocol

The Graph

Story

Treasure

Tagger

Mind Network

SentismAI

<h2 id="tl-dr">TL;DR:</h2>
<ul>
 <li>Macro: BOJ hike fears hit BTC; sentiment slides, altcoins unwind.</li>
 <li>Sector: AI mcap -6.6% (-$1.4B); large caps bleed, volume rises.</li>
 <li>News: TAO halving; io.net IDE; Virtuals × OpenMind.</li>
</ul>
This week, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin (BTC)</a> fell below $87,000 as fears surrounding the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) potential interest rate hike saw holders race to exit their positions.
The <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/fear-and-greed-index/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Index</a> fell back to 24 after a steep decline hit cryptocurrency markets and sent most altcoins tumbling.
The AI sector didn’t fare too well either. Here’s the lowdown on what happened.
<h2 id="ai-market-recap">AI Market Recap</h2>
The AI sector continued to experience choppy price action this week, with the vast majority of prominent AI tokens suffering steep declines.
Overall, the sector slid by 6.6%, with $1.4 billion wiped off its market capitalization (mcap). It is now sitting at its lowest point in over two years.
Despite this, trading <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/volume" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">volume</a> has continued to climb over this period.
Much of this decline can be attributed to the weak performance of AI large-cap tokens, with the top 20 AI tokens all down week-over-week (WoW).
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/b9414a2bf33244e7842d1a21b1d9ac09.png">

Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/view/ai-big-data/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Top AI Tokens Page</a>
Several major AI tokens were hit particularly hard. These include:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/story-protocol/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Story (IP)</a>: -17.4%</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/filecoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Filecoin (FIL)</a>: -14.9%</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/the-graph/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Graph (GRT)</a>: -14.9%</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/near-protocol/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Near Protocol (NEAR)</a>: -11.2%</li>
</ul>
That said, a few tokens were able to resist the downturn and remain positive. This week's best performers and their catalysts (where known) include:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/sentismai/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SentismAI (SENTIS)</a>: +198.4% (Spike tied to OKX Wallet BOOST <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/liquidity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">liquidity</a>-incentive exposure)</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/mind-network/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mind Network (FHE)</a>: +172.5% (Unicorn Reserve program drove renewed interest)</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tagger/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Tagger (TAG)</a>: +27.3% (Unknown catalyst)</li>
 <li><a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/magic-token/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Treasure (MAGIC)</a>: +16.4% (Unknown catalyst)</li>
</ul>
A common denominator among these tokens is that many were Binance Alpha launches.
The trending list proved to be a useful <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/alpha" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">alpha</a> source this week, with top trending tokens generally performing better than the AI sector average. Standouts include <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bnb-attestation-service/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BNB Attestation Service (BAS)</a> and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/wayfinder/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Wayfinder (PROMPT)</a>.
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/992984c48d8d41f59be74af867309b18.png">

The AI sector isn’t alone in its poor performance. Per data from Artemis, 23 of the 24 sectors tracked by the platform are in the red this week, with the AI sector roughly middle of the pack when measured by the decline in its weighted average fully diluted market capitalization.
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/498583b17b714f4da2352553809cfd79.jpg">

Source: Artemis
<h2 id="ai-news-roundup">AI News Roundup</h2>
Several major developments occurred in the AI sector this week. Below, we’ve provided a quick recap of some of the most significant.
TAO Halving Goes Live: Bittensor’s first halving was triggered this week, moving the network to 0.5 TAO per block and reducing emissions. The milestone marks a structural shift for miners/validators and subnets, and will likely shape AI-crypto narratives into 2026.
<a href="https://twitter.com/YumaGroup/status/2000561244101865956" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://twitter.com/YumaGroup/status/2000561244101865956</a>
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/a7f8d363d68042e0a3ea0ca8801b7dcb.png">

Virtuals Partners With OpenMind AGI: Virtuals Protocol announced a collaboration with OpenMind AGI to extend its Agent Commerce Protocol into “embodied AI,” connecting software agents to real-world robotics workflows. It’s a notable step toward agent-to-agent commerce beyond purely on-chain actions.
<a href="https://twitter.com/virtuals_io/status/1998000202792476765" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://twitter.com/virtuals_io/status/1998000202792476765</a>
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/fd69d4343c134f9fae617eed51d7ef8c.png">

io.net Ships the Incentive Dynamic Engine (IDE): Io.net unveiled IDE, a demand-driven <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/tokenomics" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">tokenomics</a> framework designed to align DePIN compute incentives with real fees and utilization, rather than inflationary emissions. The proposal targets more sustainable economics for decentralized AI compute providers.
<a href="https://twitter.com/ionet/status/1998981067353764238" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://twitter.com/ionet/status/1998981067353764238</a>
<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/e6747b8b69e64be2ac4fb540af4bb64e.png">

&gt;&gt; That’s a wrap! Check in next week for another dose of AI news, developments, and updates!

AI News: Sector Breaks Down as BOJ Hike Fears Hit

Table of Contents

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