Pantera Capital, which counts Coinbase, Circle, and Bitstamp among its portfolio, is in the process of raising a new $1 billion fund aimed at injecting fresh capital into the crypto industry.

According to Cosmo Jiang, the future of the cryptocurrency landscape is intrinsically tied to artificial intelligence, with every crypto company inevitably transforming into an AI enterprise.

“10, 15, 20 years from now, everyone will be utilizing AI,” Jiang remarked to DL News, emphasizing that investing in an AI firm will soon be as ubiquitous as investing in a company that has a website.

As the portfolio manager at Pantera Capital, a prominent crypto hedge fund, Jiang is proactively scouting for initiatives that leverage AI to enhance blockchain technology—or vice versa.

Ambitious Funding Strategy

Pantera Capital, which counts Coinbase, Circle, and Bitstamp among its portfolio, is in the process of raising a new $1 billion fund aimed at injecting fresh capital into the crypto industry. Jiang mentioned that a previous fund allocated around 15% to 20% of its capital into blockchain projects adjacent to AI. The new fund is expected to increase this investment.

This projection implies that Pantera Capital could channel over $200 million into AI-integrated crypto ventures by the end of this decade, although Jiang stopped short of committing to a specific figure. “The math would suggest that’s reasonable,” he noted.

The AI-Blockchain Synergy

Jiang’s insights underscore the burgeoning excitement around the fusion of AI and blockchain technologies. With forecasts suggesting that the convergence of these fields could contribute $20 trillion to the global economy by 2030, investors have funneled over $98.8 million into this sector since early 2024.

AI tokens have amassed a collective market value of $26 billion, while Bitcoin miners are augmenting their revenue streams by supplying processing power to Silicon Valley titans for AI training purposes. Brevan Howard’s digital assets chief, Gautam Sharma, has also indicated a keen interest in exploring this domain.

Jiang observed that AI and blockchain share a common lineage, with many developers transitioning fluidly between the two realms. He cited Sam Altman, who founded both OpenAI and Worldcoin, as a testament to this synergy.

Pantera’s Investment Focus

Pantera Capital has been vocal about its enthusiasm for the AI-crypto nexus, through blog posts, panel discussions, and extensive public commentary. When probed about the firm’s investment criteria, Jiang was somewhat reticent but clear on one point: avoiding “opportunistic entrepreneurs” who seek funding without a concrete vision.

Despite acknowledging that the AI industry is still in its nascent phase, Jiang identified several promising areas where blockchain can enhance AI. One such area is enabling AI agents—programs that autonomously interact and gather data—to perform their tasks more efficiently. Blockchain can also assist in verifying data crucial for AI development.

Pioneering Projects

Nexus Laboratories, which recently secured $25 million in Series A funding co-led by Pantera, exemplifies the kind of innovation Pantera is keen to support. Another venture, Bittensor, uses blockchain infrastructure to train AI, with Pantera already having invested in the project.

Bittensor operates a blockchain akin to other cryptocurrencies, but its miners validate new blocks by completing AI-related tasks instead of traditional proof-of-work computations.

Jiang concluded by highlighting that these examples merely scratch the surface of the potential opportunities at the intersection of AI and crypto, predicting a proliferation of projects in this dynamic field.