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The Story Behind the ASI Token
How will the ASI token merger impact the AI and cryptocurrency markets, and what can investors expect from this alliance?
At the end of March, three prominent names in the AI and cryptocurrency industry — Fetch.ai (FET), SingularityNET (AGIX), and Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) — has made a huge announcement: They are pooling their tokens to create a new, super-powerful AI token called Artificial Superintelligence (ASI).
However, this is not simply a direct exchange. Each token has a different value, so they will convert at variable rates.
According to announcement1 FET will be exchanged for 1 ASI, while 1 AGIX will be converted into 0.433350 ASI and 1 OCEAN into 0.433226 ASI. After the merger, there will be a total of 2.63055 billion ASI tokens.
This merger will occur in two phases. Phase 1 start on July 1st, focusing on consolidating SingularityNET’s AGIX and Ocean Protocol’s OCEAN tokens into Fetch.ai’s FET tokens. Phase 2, starting in mid-July, will engage the community and introduce the new ASI tokens. In the meantime, FET trading remains active as the rebranding takes place on various platforms.
Now, let’s explore what this merger means for the cryptocurrency market and what we can expect in the future.
What does the merger consist of?
First, let’s understand who the main players in this merger are.
SingularityNET is the world’s first decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) network, enabling anyone to create, share, and monetize AI technologies at scale.
Fetch.ai is a web3 platform that uses artificial intelligence to build a new economy by enabling autonomous agents to perform useful economic activities.
Finally, Ocean Protocol is a decentralized data exchange platform designed to safeguard data privacy and security.
Together, these companies conceive creating a robust platform that leverages their individual strengths to advance a decentralized AI future. The goal of this merger is to advance towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and, ultimately, Artificial Superintelligence (ASI).
AGI refers to AI systems that can perform any human task with at least the same level of proficiency as a human. ASI goes further, referring to AI systems that surpass human capabilities in every way.
The concept of AGI has been around for decades, with major references in the mid-20th century by visionaries such as Norbert Wiener and, later, Ray Kurzweil.
Kurzweil’s 2005 book, “The Singularity is Near,” popularized the idea that human-level AGI could emerge around 2029 and predicted the transition to ASI by 2045.
Today, rapid advances in AI technologies, such as ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs), suggest that Kurzweil’s predictions may be accurate. These systems have demonstrated remarkable capabilities, sparking the imagination of both experts and the public about the potential of AI.
While we are not yet at the level of AGI, these advances indicate that human-level AGI may not be far away. Kurzweil’s timeline predicted a 16-year gap between AGI in 2029 and ASI in 2045, but many now speculate that this could happen even sooner.
Meanwhile, the dominance of AI development by large US tech companies has shaped the current technological landscape, favoring techniques that use massive amounts of data processed by centralized server farms.
This centralized approach, while powerful, may not be the best path to developing AGI and ASI. Decentralized AI, on the other hand, promises a more democratic, open, and inclusive approach to AI development.
The primary purpose of the merger is to ensure that the development of ASI remains under popular control, open to diverse insights and contributions from across global society. This is critical because the development of ASI will present unprecedented challenges that require collective human wisdom and capacity.
By merging their tokenomic networks, SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol aim to expand their efforts in decentralized AI, providing greater incentives and resources to compete with centralized AI giants.
The current state of mergers and migrations
The current state of the merger between SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol reflects both progress and challenges.
Despite the coordination, not all cryptocurrency exchanges supported the merger for their users. In particular, Monetary baseone of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, has chosen not to automatically convert users’ tokens into ASI.
In a statement on their Coinbase Assets X account, they announced: “Ocean and Fetch.ai have announced a merger to form the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance. Coinbase will not migrate these assets on behalf of users.”
Ocean (OCEAN) and Italian: https://t.co/pOEE8X2oY0 (FET) have announced a merger to form the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI). Coinbase will not migrate these assets on behalf of users.
— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) June 26, 2024
This decision means that Coinbase users holding OCEAN and FET tokens will have to take additional steps to participate in the merger.
To address this issue, Coinbase has provided a workaround for their users. They stated that once the migration is launched, users can migrate their OCEAN and FET tokens to ASI using a self-custodial wallet like Coinbase Wallet.
The ASI token merger is designed to be compatible with all major software wallets, allowing users to manage token migration independently.
Coinbase also assured its users that they will be able to continue trading FET and OCEAN tokens as usual until further notice, although it will not directly facilitate the migration process.
As of July 8, the migration process is ongoing, with OCEAN and AGIX tokens still trading on some exchanges. These tokens continue to attract trading volumes in USD and USDT pairs, although the volumes are not particularly high.
Exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Bybit continue to facilitate trading involving OCEAN and AGIX tokens, reflecting a transition phase where not all tokens have been fully integrated into ASI.
The road ahead
The entire market is currently gripped by fear, mainly due to two critical events.
First of all, the long-awaited refunds since the Mt. Gox incident are creating uncertainty. For those who don’t know, Mt. Gox was one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges until it collapsed in 2014 after losing 850,000 BTC.
The refund processes to creditors has been ongoing for years and the finalization of these Bitcoins on the market is causing apprehension.
Secondly, the German government was continuously selling his Bitcoin, which contributed to the cautious market sentiment.
This uncertainty has spilled over into the crypto-AI sector, which has been one of the fastest-growing sectors this year, posting exponential gains during the bull run.
However, the trend has changed. Since July 8, the price of the soon-to-be-converted-to-ASI Fetch.ai token (FET) has seen sharp declines. From a high of $3.47 in March 2024, FET has plummeted to $1.19, marking a 65% decline.
Given this backdrop, it is wise to proceed with caution. Avoid making impulsive decisions based on fear or hype. Assess your risk tolerance and only invest what you can afford to lose.
Disclosure: This article does not constitute investment advice. The content and materials on this page are for educational purposes only.