Venice, an artificial intelligence startup backed by ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees, has taken a significant step into web3 by launching its VVV cryptocurrency on Coinbase’s Base layer-2 network.
This marks a key move for the company, which aims to decentralize access to generative AI technologies.
The VVV token is designed to provide a novel approach to accessing Venice’s AI API, offering services for generating text, images, and code. Unlike traditional pay-per-request models, Venice allows AI agents to stake VVV tokens to secure ongoing access to its services.
“If you stake 1% of VVV, you gain 1% of Venice’s API capacity indefinitely,”
the company outlined in a January 27 blog post.
Venice announced an airdrop of 50 million VVV tokens to celebrate the launch. Half of the tokens were distributed to more than 100,000 Venice users, while the remaining half was allocated to AI and crypto communities, including Virtuals, Luna, and VaderAI. The token has a capped supply of 100 million at launch, with an annual addition of 14 million tokens to be distributed as staking rewards.
Since its debut in May 2024, Venice has over 400,000 registered users, 50,000 DAU and 15,000 inference requests per hour. It has prioritized privacy and decentralization, offering users an alternative to the restrictions often imposed by major AI platforms. The introduction of VVV aligns with the company’s mission to democratize access to AI and expand its utility in the crypto ecosystem.
The launch also coincided with heightened discussions about the global investment landscape. BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes suggested that the emergence of DeepSeek AI, a Chinese competitor to OpenAI, could drive global investors to reconsider their reliance on U.S.-based technology companies and financial markets. In a post on X, Hayes argued that such advancements might encourage investors to explore more diversified and international opportunities.
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