AI narrative thesis: GPU DePINs, agents and app-layer plays
Quote491 words
Bullish call$IO−90%since this piece, moved against the call · 1 more callHow it played out ↓Argues AI will be an evergreen narrative and groups plays into GPU infrastructure, agent infrastructure that solves chain fragmentation, and app-layer automation. Says a fraction of the $79B quarterly cloud spend moving to DePINs would make it a top crypto sector.
Key claims
Enterprises spent $79B on AWS and Google Cloud services in Q2 2024
IO and ATH are best exposure to GPU DePIN narrative
AI will continue to be one of of the dominating narratives throughout the cycle. 🤖 ✨
We are talking a trillion $$$ market opportunity and emerging protocols that will be worth billions.
Some thoughts 💭👇
DePINs can play a key role in democratizing access to high-end GPU infrastructure for both on-chain and off-chain builders.
That's a trillion $$$ market that spans far beyond our crypto bubble.
Some of the best examples in this category are @AethirCloud and @ionet, which cluster and/or aggregate GPU resources to make them available to companies around the globe with maximum customizability and at an affordable cost.
In the context of AI, GPU resources or more broadly speaking compute power is of the essence, as it is required to train models and run interference (e.g. have a generative AI create images).
If only a fraction of the $79B that enterprises spent on the cloud computing services of @awscloud or @googlecloud in Q2 2024 moves to these platforms, this will quickly be one of the most profitable sectors within crypto.
Personally, I believe that $IO and $ATH are among the best plays for exposure to this narrative.
However, that's just the underpinnings of a variety of use cases that are enabled by the hardware layer.
Many teams are taking things one step further, by building infra solutions to enable AI-powered agents to solve UX frictions that make interacting in Web3 difficult for end users today.
Others are aiming to allow devs to build AI-powered apps directly within powerful VMs (or through verifiable off-chain computation) and enable on-chain autonomous agent economies.
While they might leverage GPU-as-a-Service or GPU aggregation providers, they are set out to solve a different problem at a different layer of the stack.
AI agents can automate and optimize user interactions and completely abstract the complexity that comes with an increasingly fragmented backend of chains.
On the app layer, we already see some interesting, use case specific solutions take shape as well, where AI is used to automate & optimize portfolio or treasury management, perform cross-chain actions, and simplify end user experience.
The trend towards a fully chain-abstracted, agent-powered future is inevitable imo and the importance of AI (within crypto but also beyond) is set to only increase in the years to come.
I believe on all three layers there are very interesting plays right now that could make a lot of money, especially once retail piles into the market.
Unlike most infra narratives like "hey I'm a ZK powered L2 with super-scalable DA", AI is a powerful label that normies can make associations with.
It will be an "evergreen" narrative imo, easy to understand and always benefiting from the amount of mindshare that AI has outside the crypto bubble.
Personally am invested in a bunch of tokens in the below list (live and not live yet), but this post is not meant to be financial advice.
Just trying to make you DYOR anon. 🧠 👇
QUOTING @zerokn0wledge_
✨ 🤖 AI Landscape Overview 🤖 ✨ When the market returns in full force, leading AI tokens that are currently undervalued & emerging projects you can be early on, could be at the forefront. Alpha list 👇 GPU / Cloud Computing Infrastructure ✦ @AethirCloud - GPU-as-a-Service for AI
✨ 🤖 AI Landscape Overview 🤖 ✨ When the market returns in full force, leading AI tokens that are currently undervalued & emerging projects you can be early on, could be at the forefront. Alpha list 👇 GPU / Cloud Computing Infrastructure ✦ @AethirCloud - GPU-as-a-Service for AI
How the calls played out · since 15 Aug 2024
Prices as of 23 Oct 2026This piece takes a view on $IO, $ATH, so those moves are read against the call.
AI demand for GPUs is enormous, and if a fraction of enterprise cloud spend moves to DePINs, io.net is among the best-positioned aggregators.
−90%
Moved against the call · over 2.2 years
- At publication
- $1.66
- Now
- $0.158
- vs BTC
- −93%
- After 1 month
- +11%
- After 3 months
- +34%
- After 1 year
- −63%
- High since
- +155% 14 Dec 2024
- Low since
- −94% 06 Apr 2026
Aethir clusters GPUs for AI companies at low cost, and even a small share of enterprise cloud spend would lift GPU DePINs.
−91%
Moved against the call · over 2.2 years
- At publication
- $0.0695
- Now
- $0.00626
- vs BTC
- −94%
- After 1 month
- −21%
- After 3 months
- −13%
- After 1 year
- −51%
- High since
- +27% 09 Dec 2024
- Low since
- −95% 15 Aug 2026
Since then
Zero has written 35 more pieces on io.net and Aethir and $IO and $ATH since this one.
- io.net IDE tokenomics: #1 revenue DePIN at 5.3x MC/ARRBullish call on $IO
- DePIN compute needs enterprise reliability, not just cheaper GPUs than AWSOn Aethir
- DeAI as crypto's endgame: compute, agents and autonomous economiesOn io.net
- Why decentralized compute solves the startup GPU cost squeezeOn io.net
Daily closes in USD from DefiLlama and Yahoo Finance. Only a bullish or bearish call in a thesis or market take is tracked; explainers, lists, maps and mentions are neutral context. Not financial advice.