Crypto AI Tokens Face a Reality Check as Market Sentiment Diverges from 2024's Momentum

The relationship between major industry events and crypto AI token performance has grown increasingly unpredictable. While Nvidia’s latest developer conference sparked renewed optimism across traditional tech stocks, the broader crypto AI market tells a different story. Projects like NEAR and Fetch.AI that once dominated investor attention are now struggling to regain their earlier traction, revealing fundamental shifts in how the market prioritizes digital assets.

The 2024 Rally vs. Current Market Reality

Exactly one year ago, the landscape looked vastly different. In March 2025, anticipation around Nvidia’s annual conference drove NEAR to double, while Fetch.AI (FET), The Graph (GRT), and SingularityNET (AGIX) all surged in unison with the broader crypto AI sector. That synchronized rally reflected investor conviction that artificial intelligence would dominate the cryptocurrency bull market narrative.

Today’s market presents a stark contrast. During Nvidia’s recent conference, NEAR declined 8% while FET fell 9%—a sharp reversal from the previous year’s pattern. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s stock itself rose 15% to $153 as the conference opened, demonstrating that bullish tech sentiment no longer translates automatically to crypto AI gains. However, recent price movements suggest potential shifts: NEAR has recovered to show a +15.01% 24-hour change, and FET has posted a +5.06% daily gain as of late February 2026, indicating the sector retains some volatility and recovery potential.

Why Speculation Has Shifted Elsewhere

The declining relevance of traditional crypto AI tokens can be traced to several interconnected factors. First, investor capital has increasingly migrated toward AI agent tokens—a new category that mirrors the cult-like following and explosive volatility characteristic of memcoins. These speculative instruments offer the tantalizing possibility of triple or quadruple-digit returns, far exceeding the more modest movement potential of established AI projects with larger market capitalizations.

Beyond capital reallocation, raw interest in mainstream crypto AI tokens has evaporated. Google search volume for “NEAR token” and “Fetch.ai” have declined by 47% and 84% respectively since March 2025—a dramatic indicator of diminished retail attention. This shift reflects a broader market truth: crypto enthusiasm follows narratives, and last year’s dominant narrative wasn’t AI at all, but Bitcoin. The combination of substantial ETF inflows into Bitcoin and bullish sentiment surrounding Donald Trump’s political victory redirected market focus entirely away from experimental AI applications.

The Maturity Challenge for Crypto AI Projects

The paradox underlying this decline is that most crypto AI projects remain in their infancy from a practical standpoint. Few have achieved genuine mainstream adoption; many core products were still in active development during the 2025 rally. Nvidia’s announcement of Digits—a $3,000 mini supercomputer set for May availability—underscores how early-stage the AI infrastructure landscape remains. Real utility and adoption often lag behind speculative enthusiasm by months or years.

This disconnect between hype cycles and actual technological maturity is hardly unique to crypto AI tokens. The market has historically punished sectors that rally too rapidly on speculative momentum, and the crypto AI category represents a textbook example of this pattern playing out in real time.