The funding round that caught my attention the most in the past two weeks was Sentient. The AI-crypto startup pulled off the biggest seed funding round in the crypto industry this year, raising an impressive $85 million. The round was co-led by three high-profile investors: Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Pantera Capital and Framework Ventures, with additional participation from other notable backers.

As I reported at the time, Sentient raised this massive amount in just three months despite being in the very early stage of developing its platform. The specifics of the platform's functionality are still under wraps. So, what about Sentient has drawn investors to bet big on it?

I interviewed all three co-lead investors of Sentient and three of its participating investors. Each of them is …