Bittensor (TAO) Surges Amid AI Market Momentum and Institutional Interest

The IoTeX Network has made significant strides with the launch of its 2.0 upgrade in Q3’24, which aims to provide decentralized infrastructure, public goods, and governance tools for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN). This upgrade has led to a notable increase in network activity, with active wallets and transactions rising by 13% and 8% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), respectively. The introduction of the ioID protocol has been pivotal, transforming hardware devices into on-chain entities with verifiable identities. As of Q3’24, the network is secured by 112 delegates who are actively staking $172 million, marking a 17% increase QoQ, and achieving an average staking participation rate of 41.3%. The IoTeX 2.0 upgrade also features an enhanced tokenomic design that seeks to balance inflationary staking rewards with deflationary token burns, thereby driving the utility of the IOTX token. Throughout Q3’24, IoTeX has integrated with several prominent networks and protocols, including Solana and Polygon, which positions the IoTeX Network as a robust ecosystem for DePIN projects. The middleware solution, W3bstream, is set to launch on the mainnet in Q1’25, further enhancing the network's capabilities by providing verifiability and scalability for DePINs. In addition to the technical advancements, IoTeX has established the Marshall DAO to manage a pool of IOTX tokens dedicated to funding DePIN projects. This community-driven approach allows token holders to propose and vote on initiatives, fostering a collaborative environment for innovation. The DePIN ecosystem on IoTeX has expanded significantly, with over 230 dApps and more than 50 dedicated DePIN projects, solidifying IoTeX's position as a leading player in the decentralized infrastructure space. The future looks promising as the network continues to evolve and attract diverse applications across various sectors, including DeFi and GameFi.

MetaMask has recently enhanced its functionality through integration with IoTeX, allowing users to perform seamless token transfers across various blockchains. This integration significantly improves interoperability for active traders, enabling over 30 million users to engage across 90 different blockchain environments. However, some users have reported issues with the Snap feature, which can experience sporadic delays, particularly when handling large token volumes. This reliance on multiple network connections may also slow down transactions, leading to frustration among users seeking quicker responses. In the wake of the recent U.S. election results, XRP has seen a notable rally, with its price climbing to $0.5142, marking a 2.19% increase. This surge is largely attributed to optimism surrounding Trump's potential influence on future crypto regulations, particularly regarding the SEC's stance on Ripple. Trump's promises to dismiss SEC Chair Gary Gensler could ease regulatory pressures, benefiting XRP's market position. However, the dependency on political changes introduces volatility, as ongoing legal actions from the SEC could still pose risks for XRP investors. Plus Wallet is making waves in the crypto wallet sector by transforming everyday transactions into earning opportunities. Its innovative features, such as 'Swap to Earn' and 'Refer to Earn', allow users to profit from their trading activities and expand their networks for passive income. This approach not only enhances user engagement but also fosters a supportive community focused on mutual benefits. As crypto enthusiasts increasingly seek wallets that provide rewards alongside basic functionalities, Plus Wallet's commitment to user empowerment positions it as a leading choice in the market.

As we look ahead to 2025, the cryptocurrency landscape is poised for significant evolution, particularly with the emergence of blockchains like Solana, SUI, and Bitcoin. Following the FTX crash, many investors have turned their attention back to Solana, which offers a unique advantage over Ethereum by providing faster and cheaper transactions. With only 5% of the global population currently owning cryptocurrency, experts believe we are still in the early stages of this digital revolution. While Bitcoin remains the dominant force in the market, Ethereum's influence is waning, primarily due to its congested layer 2 solutions, which may hinder its performance in the upcoming cycle. Solana is rapidly gaining traction, boasting impressive statistics such as a transaction speed of 1,500 transactions per second (tps) and surpassing Ethereum and Tron in total economic value locked. The upcoming Firedancer update is expected to enhance its capabilities further, potentially reaching 1 million tps. Additionally, the SUI blockchain is emerging as a strong contender in the decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) space, offering solutions for the Internet of Things. With a focus on real-time, secure interactions among interconnected devices, SUI is attracting developers and projects like Karrier One and Chirp Wireless, which aim to revolutionize wireless access and decentralized telecom. The current narratives in the crypto space include real-world assets, AI, GameFi, and meme coins, with a particular emphasis on DePIN. Bitcoin continues to outperform other asset classes, reinforcing its position as a leading investment choice. As the cryptocurrency market evolves, the belief in Web3 remains steadfast, with many anticipating a bullish trend in the near future. For those still exploring the crypto landscape, the message is clear: the opportunity to invest in transformative technologies is ripe, and the time to act is now.

Stratos has announced an exciting partnership with DeepSouth AI, a prominent player in the field of artificial intelligence that utilizes neuromorphic computing technology. This collaboration aims to merge DeepSouth AI's cutting-edge AI capabilities with Stratos's decentralized infrastructure solutions. The goal is to create more intelligent and accessible decentralized applications within the Web3 ecosystem, enhancing the overall functionality and user experience of these applications. DeepSouth AI is in the process of developing a versatile platform that is equipped with a comprehensive suite of powerful AI tools. These tools are specifically designed to assist developers and enterprises in implementing advanced AI solutions. By integrating with Stratos's robust and scalable infrastructure, DeepSouth AI will benefit from a decentralized storage solution that offers reliability, security, and performance, essential for supporting high-demand AI-driven applications. Through this strategic collaboration, Stratos is set to provide the necessary decentralized infrastructure to meet the high-volume data needs of DeepSouth AI's platform. This partnership is poised to usher in a new era of Web3 applications, where artificial intelligence and decentralized technology can work in harmony, ultimately driving innovation and accessibility in the digital landscape.

In a groundbreaking integration, Lit Protocol has demonstrated how to securely combine the capabilities of OpenAI and the Solana blockchain. By utilizing Wrapped Keys on Solana, developers can sign responses generated by the OpenAI API within a Lit Action. This integration opens up a myriad of innovative applications, particularly in the realm of AI-powered autonomous agents. These agents can operate on the blockchain without exposing sensitive API keys, thanks to Lit's threshold-based Programmable Key Pairs (PKPs) and Trusted Execution Environments (TEE). This ensures that all sensitive operations remain protected, allowing AI agents to interact with both blockchain and traditional web services while maintaining decentralized identities. The integration also emphasizes the importance of private compute and data processing. By encrypting data and executing large language model (LLM) prompts within Lit’s TEE, developers can ensure that sensitive information, such as medical records or financial data, remains secure throughout the process. The TEE provides hardware-level isolation, meaning even node operators cannot access decrypted data. This end-to-end encryption allows for the secure processing of private information, ensuring that all computations occur within a secure environment before results are re-encrypted and sent back. Furthermore, the integration facilitates the generation of cryptographic proofs for training and inference. By restricting PKP signing permissions to specific IPFS CID hashes, developers can guarantee the authenticity of LLM-generated content. This proof system is particularly beneficial for audit trails and compliance requirements, as it enables third parties to verify the authenticity of the content produced by the LLM. Overall, this integration showcases the potential of combining AI with blockchain technology, paving the way for more secure and efficient applications in the future.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to significant advancements across various sectors, yet it comes with a hefty environmental price tag due to its high energy consumption. AI models, particularly those utilizing neural networks, require substantial computational power, which translates to enormous electricity usage. For example, running ChatGPT in early 2023 consumed approximately 564 MWh of electricity daily, equivalent to the energy needs of around 18,000 U.S. households. This energy demand is primarily driven by complex floating-point operations essential for neural network computations, making the search for energy-efficient solutions critical as AI systems grow in complexity. Enter the L-Mul (Linear-Complexity Multiplication) algorithm, a groundbreaking development that promises to significantly reduce the energy burden associated with AI computations. L-Mul operates by approximating floating-point multiplications with simpler integer additions, which can be integrated into existing AI models without the need for fine-tuning. This innovative approach has demonstrated remarkable energy savings, achieving up to 95% reduction in energy consumption for element-wise tensor multiplications and 80% for dot product computations. Importantly, this energy efficiency does not compromise the accuracy of AI models, marking a significant advancement in the quest for sustainable AI. The implications of L-Mul extend beyond mere energy savings; it enhances the performance of AI models across various applications, including transformer models and large language models (LLMs). In benchmarks such as GSM8k and visual question answering tasks, L-Mul has outperformed traditional floating-point formats like FP8, showcasing its potential to handle complex computations efficiently. As the demand for AI continues to rise, L-Mul stands out as a pivotal solution that not only addresses the energy crisis associated with AI but also paves the way for a more sustainable future in technology development.