The AI industry is battling an existential crisis as Chinese company DeepSeek claims to have developed a ChatGPT equivalent for a fraction of the cost.
However, the new Ethereum-based AI agent MIND Of Pepe ($MIND) continues to show strong demand in its token presale, having just crossed the $4.1 million total raised mark.
Like DeepSeek, MIND Of Pepe is bringing something new to the AI industry, but the difference is that it’s locked in on crypto.
Investors can buy $MIND via its ongoing token presale. The current price is $0.0032144, but this will rise throughout the ICO. The next increase will occur in one day.
US AI stocks and AI cryptos plunge
Market participants were spooked by the emergence of DeepSeek’s open-source AI chatbot, DeepSeek-R1, which recently dethroned ChatGPT from the top spot on the AI applications section of the App Store.
DeepSeek-R1 reportedly offers capabilities similar to those of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
But DeepSeek didn’t cost billions of dollars to develop like some American AI models – and it didn’t use the latest Nvidia tech; the company said it cost just $5.6 million and used more primitive computational equipment.
Unsurprisingly, the move shocked AI and technology investors, causing the NASDAQ to plunge by 3.1% on Monday and GPU manufacturer Nvidia to lose almost $600 million from its market cap.
AI cryptocurrencies such as ai16z, Virtuals Protocol, and Griffain have also retraced by double-digit percentages in the past week.
Yet, despite this AI black swan event, investors continue to support MIND Of Pepe, a new AI agent that seamlessly operates on the blockchain and social media.
Moreover, integrating the Pepe meme provides a fun and light-hearted twist away from the seriousness of AI. As such, MIND Of Pepe has the best of both worlds and multiple sources of token demand.
MIND Of Pepe’s X account and crypto wallet
Imagine there was an AI agent working around the clock to increase the value of its underlying token. That’s what MIND Of Pepe is doing.
The agent runs an X account where it interacts with others to gather data, shape narratives, and build an audience.
It will leverage this in multiple ways. First, the agent will identify trends in the data it gathers, which it will aggregate into valuable data insights and share them with its community to give it an edge in the market.
However, in addition to operating its own X account, MIND Of Pepe has a crypto wallet. From there, it can launch tokens and interact with decentralized applications. $MIND holders get early access to its token launches, creating tangible token utility.
25% of the total $MIND supply is reserved for the agent. This provides ammunition for the agent to make things happen on-chain.
For instance, it could be deployed in DeFi applications to generate yield, trade, or even hire by people or other agents to help develop the project’s ecosystem. It’s all at the agent’s discretion based on what it thinks will best serve the project’s long-term success.
Think of MIND Of Pepe as a key opinion leader (KOL) who trades and launches tokens; but it never sleeps.
As well as the presale showing significant demand, this use case is causing a buzz among analysts.
Prominent trader Jacob Bury recently appeared on the 99Bitcoins YouTube channel, suggesting $MIND could “be the next big thing” and even holds 100x potential.
Expert says Bitcoin price rally is coming, good news for altcoins
Despite jitters after the news of DeepSeek broke, Bitcoin has managed to maintain a price above $100K, albeit briefly retesting $98K.
This is a good sign for the broader market, showing that despite the fear, Bitcoin has maintained its bullish structure.
Prominent analyst RektCapital suggests that Bitcoin will begin a strong uptrend in under two weeks, citing historical price data.
https://twitter.com/rektcapital/status/1883985425288864020
If Bitcoin can break above its current ATH and venture further into price discovery, this would provide a stronger outlook for altcoins.
MIND Of Pepe has continued to advance even while other altcoins have struggled this week, so it could be one of the top performers in the months ahead.
