Synopsis Artificial intelligence (AI) utility tokens represent more than just digital currencies; they are autonomous AI agents grounded in real-world applications. Although AI coins built on blockchain technology are attracting significant investor interest, risks associated with their autonomous nature remain, highlights Himanshi Lohchab. Software developers and tech-savvy investors are optimistic about AI and blockchain's role in building a decentralized future. Projects like Near Protocol, ICP, The Graph, SingularityNET, and Render have witnessed monthly trading volumes of $8–10 million on Indian exchanges. Globally, the market capitalization of AI tokens surged from $2. 7 billion to nearly $30 billion within a year. Unlike conventional digital currencies, AI tokens function as autonomous agents linked to real use cases. Indian developers are not only trading these tokens but actively building on them, participating in open-source projects, competing in hackathons, and sharing predictive datasets through platforms like Ocean Protocol. AI tokens combine store of value and utility. Traditional cryptocurrencies serve as digital money allowing profit through buying and selling, but AI tokens offer income through trading and active contribution. For example, Render enables users to rent idle GPUs and earn tokens, while Fetch provides a marketplace for developers to build and deploy AI agents that generate revenue when utilized. Sumit Gupta, co-founder of CoinDCX, India’s leading crypto exchange, states that unlike previous fleeting trends such as meme coins, AI tokens are supported by tangible applications like automation, predictive analytics, and fraud detection within blockchain ecosystems.

This autonomous transaction execution and process optimization make AI tokens an innovative force, especially in decentralized finance. The AI token hype is substantiated by major investors: Grayscale recently allocated 27% of its crypto holdings to the decentralized AI project Bittensor Protocol (TAO), while firms like BlackRock and Fidelity have boosted their AI-related crypto investments. PitchBook reports that decentralised AI startups raised $436 million in 2024—a nearly 200% increase compared to 2023—with backing from a16z, Binance Labs, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Reid Hoffman, and others. India plays a significant role in the AI and Web3 landscape, thanks to its vast engineering talent rooted in strong IT foundations. Anuj Tandon of BITKRAFT Ventures highlights India’s importance, citing a Hashed Emergent report that notes India’s 17% contribution to global new Web3 developers, with 28% year-on-year growth on GitHub in 2024—the highest worldwide—adding over 4. 7 million developers. Tandon believes the next 24–36 months are critical as early AI+blockchain experiments undergo market validation. However, investments in autonomous AI tokens carry inherent risks. Alankar Saxena, CTO of crypto exchange Mudrex, warns of potential malicious activity, coding errors, and vulnerabilities due to AI agents executing smart contracts and approving transactions without human oversight. Regulatory frameworks remain uncertain as governments evaluate AI-driven financial applications, notes Gupta. Security concerns arise because AI systems, like any software, can have exploitable vulnerabilities, potentially leading to unauthorized transactions or financial losses, explains Balaji Srihari of CoinSwitch. Additionally, accountability issues emerge if AI agents behave unpredictably, complicating responsibility attribution. In sum, AI utility tokens combine innovative technological promise with notable challenges that investors and developers must navigate carefully amidst a rapidly evolving decentralized ecosystem.