The AI crypto sector experienced a sharp pullback in market capitalization this week, even as trading activity climbed and select tokens posted extraordinary gains.
According to CoinMarketCap’s latest Week in AI: Cascade to Catalysts report, the total AI market cap fell 14.21% to $30.14 billion, while volume jumped 4.81% to $6.33 billion, signaling active repositioning among investors.
Top Gainers Defy Market Dip
Despite the overall downturn, several AI-linked tokens saw explosive growth. Meta Financial AI (MEFAI) led the charge with a 2,532% weekly gain, surging to $0.01257 and reaching a $7.8 million market cap. AI PIN (AIPIN) followed with a 366% rise, while BNB Attestation Service (BAS) climbed 322% to a $200.8 million valuation, buoyed by its growing use in BNB Chain’s verification ecosystem.
Rounding out the top five were OrbitAI (ORBIT), up 219%, and Boom (BOOM), gaining 214%. The performance highlights strong capital rotation into smaller-cap AI tokens despite broader selling pressure.
Spotlight: From Rumors to Relaunches
CoinMarketCap’s report pointed to a surge in speculation around Polymarket token crossovers driving interest in prediction-focused AI projects. Early movers include pylodtofun (+246%) and polyoracleai (+136%), with Mindshare also trending per KaitoAI data.
Meanwhile, legacy forecasting platform AugurProject teased a comeback, potentially integrating AI hooks, and Oceanprotocol officially exited the ASI Alliance to refocus on decentralized AI data.
Lastly, Eco_yield announced plans for a renewable-powered, tokenized AI compute platform, aiming to merge sustainability with DeFi yield mechanics.
Despite recent volatility, analysts view the latest developments as a sign that innovation, not speculation, is increasingly driving momentum across the AI crypto landscape.
