How will the ASI token merger influence the AI and crypto markets, and what can investors anticipate from this alliance?

At the end of March, three prominent names in the AI and crypto industries — Fetch.ai (FET), SingularityNET (AGIX), and Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) — made a huge announcement: they are merging their tokens to create a new, super-powerful AI token called Artificial Superintelligence (ASI).

However, this isn’t just a straightforward swap. Each token holds a different value, so they will convert at varying rates.

According to the announcement, 1 FET will be exchanged for 1 ASI, while 1 AGIX will convert to 0.433350 ASI and 1 OCEAN to 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 began on July 1, 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. Meanwhile, FET trading remains active as rebranding takes place across various platforms.

Now, let’s explore what this merger signifies for the crypto market and what we might anticipate in the future.

What is the merger about?

First, let’s understand the key players in this merger. 

SingularityNET is the world’s first decentralized Artificial Intelligence (AI) network, which allows anyone to create, share, and monetize AI technologies at scale. 

Fetch.ai is a web3 platform that uses AI to build a new economy by enabling autonomous agents to perform useful economic work. 

Lastly, Ocean Protocol is a decentralized data exchange platform designed to safeguard data privacy and security. 

Together, these companies envision creating a robust platform that harnesses their individual strengths to foster a decentralized AI future. The goal of this merger is to advance toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and, eventually, Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). 

AGI refers to AI systems that can perform any human task with at least the same level of competence as a human. ASI goes beyond this, referring to AI systems that surpass human capabilities in every way. 

The concept of AGI has been around for decades, with notable mentions in the mid-20th century by visionaries like Norbert Wiener and later by Ray Kurzweil. 

Kurzweil’s 2005 book, “The Singularity is Near,” popularized the idea that human-level AGI might emerge around 2029, and he projected the transition to ASI by 2045.

Today, the rapid advancements in AI technologies, such as ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs), suggest that Kurzweil’s predictions might be accurate. These systems have shown remarkable capabilities, igniting both expert and public imagination about the potential of AI. 

While we are not yet at the level of AGI, these advancements indicate that human-level AGI may not be far off. 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 U.S. tech companies has shaped the current tech space, favoring techniques that utilize massive amounts of data processed through centralized server farms. 

This centralized approach, while powerful, may not be the best path for developing AGI and ASI. Decentralized AI, on the other hand, promises a more democratic, open, and inclusive approach to AI development.

The merger’s primary purpose is to ensure that the development of ASI remains under popular control, open to diverse insights and contributions from across global society. This is crucial because the development of ASI will present unprecedented challenges that require collective human wisdom and capabilities. 

By merging their tokenomic networks, SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol aim to scale up their decentralized AI efforts, providing greater incentives and resources to compete with centralized AI giants.

The current state of merger and migration

The current state of the merger between SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol reflects both progress and challenges. 

Despite the coordination, not all crypto exchanges have supported the merger for their users. Notably, Coinbase, one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, opted out of automatically converting users’ token holdings to 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 execute the migration of these assets on behalf of users.” 

This decision means that Coinbase users holding OCEAN and FET tokens must take extra steps to participate in the merger.

To address this, Coinbase provided a workaround for their users. They stated that once the migration launches, users could 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 their token migration independently. 

Coinbase also assured its users that they could continue trading FET and OCEAN tokens as usual until further notice, even though they won’t facilitate the migration process directly.

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 like Coinbase, Kraken, and Bybit are still facilitating trades involving OCEAN and AGIX tokens, reflecting a transitional phase where not all tokens have been fully merged into ASI.

The road ahead

The entire market is currently in a state of fear, primarily due to two critical events. 

First, the long-anticipated repayments from the Mt. Gox incident are creating uncertainty. For those unfamiliar, Mt. Gox was one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges until it collapsed in 2014 after losing 850,000 BTC. 

The repayment process to creditors has been ongoing for years, and the finalization of these Bitcoins back into the market is causing apprehension.

Second, the German government has been continuously selling off its Bitcoin holdings, which has added to the market’s cautious sentiment. 

This atmosphere of uncertainty has spilled over into the crypto-AI sector, which had been one of the fastest-growing areas this year, experiencing exponential gains during the bull rally. 

However, the tide has turned. As of July 8, the price of Fetch.ai’s token (FET), which will soon be converted to ASI, 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’s wise to exercise caution. Avoid making impulsive decisions based on fear or hype. Assess your risk tolerance and only invest what you can afford to lose.