AI Takes Over Markets and Social Media: Why Crypto AI Tokens Are Missing the Rally?
Despite record social media mentions and massive investment in mainstream AI, crypto AI tokens are underperforming and largely ignored by major Web3 funding.Summary
Mentions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on social media hit record highs in February 2026, with discussions focusing on new models, creative applications, and concerns like job displacement. This widespread interest is mirrored in global investment, where AI attracted nearly half of all global funding in 2025, surging over 75% year-over-year, exemplified by large infrastructure commitments like Adani Group's $100 billion investment.
However, this AI boom has not benefited the crypto sector. Decentralized AI projects and blockchain-based AI tokens are experiencing weak performance and limited visibility, notably missing from top Web3 funding allocations in Q1 2026, which favored stablecoin infrastructure and RWA tokenization.
The market data confirms this divergence: the combined market capitalization of leading AI crypto categories has dropped over 16% in the past month, suggesting that mainstream AI enthusiasm is concentrating capital in traditional systems rather than translating into demand for crypto AI tokens.
(Source：BeInCrypto)