Jensen Huang's AI expectations drive crypto markets higher with substantial gains

Artificial intelligence-related cryptocurrencies experienced significant upward momentum on Monday after Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, delivered his forward-looking speech at the GTC conference. The market reaction underscored the growing integration between AI developments and blockchain technology, with several AI-focused tokens showing strong performance.

AI Crypto Tokens Respond Positively to Jensen Huang’s Speeches

The NEAR Protocol (NEAR), an AI-oriented blockchain, showed robust performance, trading around $1.31 with a 24-hour increase of 2.41%. The Artificial Superintelligence Alliance token (FET) recorded an intraday appreciation of 3.62% over the same period, supported by optimism about decentralized AI infrastructure.

Worldcoin (WLD), the identity-focused crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, rose 6.33% and traded around $0.33, recovering from earlier levels. Grass (GRASS), which allows users to monetize unused internet bandwidth for AI model training, showed more modest movements with a minimal decline of 0.08%, but remains part of a larger narrative around decentralized AI infrastructure.

Jensen Huang Predicts Massive Chip Demand and Agent Revolution

During his keynote, Jensen Huang explained Nvidia’s strategic position in what the company sees as the next phase of AI evolution. The Nvidia executive spoke of an expected chip demand shortfall worth approximately $1 trillion by 2027, with hyperscale cloud providers estimated to account for about 60% of the demand. This forecast highlights the scale problem Nvidia is addressing.

A central part of Jensen Huang’s message focused on the rise of agentic AI systems. He emphasized the OpenClaw project, which has gained significant attention among developers. Nvidia has been working on an enterprise version called NemoClaw, designed to deploy autonomous AI agents more safely without exposing sensitive corporate data. Although Jensen Huang made no direct references to cryptocurrencies, a growing segment of blockchain entrepreneurs envisions the future of AI agents rooted in decentralized infrastructure.

Blockchain Sector Anticipates AI Agent Economy

An emerging theme among crypto projects is the belief that the next generation of AI agents will operate via blockchain networks. This would enable autonomous actions and coordination without traditional centralized platforms. Projects are betting on decentralized computing power, AI training infrastructure, and agent-enabled systems as alternatives to the commercial AI ecosystems of tech giants.

This sentiment was reflected in Monday’s market movements, where Jensen Huang’s technological outlook translated into demand for AI-related crypto assets. Nvidia’s stock itself rose about 1.5%, a more modest gain compared to some AI tokens experienced.

New Investment Fund Targets Prediction Markets

Alongside developments in agentic AI, 5c© Capital announced a venture fund specifically focused on prediction markets. The initiative has support from the CEOs of Polymarket and Kalshi and aims to raise up to $35 million. The fund plans to support approximately 20 early-stage startups over the next two years, with a focus on infrastructure and services such as data tools, liquidity provision, and compliance mechanisms.

The launch comes at a time of accelerating growth in prediction markets, with rising trading volumes, influx of new users, and increasing interest from major crypto platforms and retail traders. The initiative has garnered support from more than 20 early investors, including asset managers from Millennium Management and other founders in the prediction market space.