AI-Crypto Startups Raised $516 Million in 2025 as Big Backers Bet Big

- AI-crypto projects raise a record $516 million through August 2025. - Major VCs like Bitwise, Sequoia, and Binance Labs lead funding rounds. On August 26, 2025, DL News reported that funding for blockchain projects using artificial intelligence reached a historic $516 million in the first eight months of the year, marking a 6% increase over the total raised in 2024. Data from DefiLlama confirms this is the highest recorded funding for the sector to date. Major backers such as Bitwise, Pantera, Sequoia, and Binance Labs contributed significantly to this year’s funding. In the report, Juan Leon, a senior investment strategist at Bitwise, called the rise of AI in crypto a "megatrend" that could add $20 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. In addition, growing enthusiasm for generative AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, X's Grok, and Midjourney has further fueled interest in the intersection of AI and blockchain. Tech giants like NVIDIA, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have also invested heavily in AI development, while Wall Street is closely monitoring the sector. Morgan Stanley estimates that AI adoption could increase the long-term valuation of the S&P 500 by approximately 30%, which would add up to $16 billion in additional value over time. Within the crypto industry, players are leveraging AI innovations for novel possibilities. For instance, Coinbase recently unveiled x402, a stablecoin payment protocol that enables AI agents to transact autonomously online. Separately, Sean Ren, CEO of Sahara AI and a professor at the University of Southern California, stated that AI is creating "entirely new asset classes," such as datasets, fine-tuned models, and autonomous agents. However, challenges persist in AI-driven blockchain development, as a critical scarcity of computing resources, particularly Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), continues to impede progress. Trevor Harries-Jones, director of the Render Network Foundation, explained, "AI is moving faster than just about anything we’ve seen, but it’s running into a brick wall: there just aren’t enough GPUs." To address this issue, blockchain projects like Render are creating decentralized networks that utilize underutilized GPU capacity globally. Despite the sector's enormous potential, risks remain. For example, research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed that 95% of AI pilot programs have yet to achieve rapid revenue growth. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also warned about an AI investment bubble, suggesting that some investors could incur significant losses. Nevertheless, industry optimism persists, with Maxim Legg, CEO of dataset company Pangea, emphasizing that success in the space will likely depend on building "useful applications, not just hype." According to market data on August 26, Render (RNDR) was trading at $3.537 at 18:14 UTC, with its 24-hour trading volume up by 0.27%.