Cryptocurrencies in the emerging artificial intelligence (AI) agent sector soared on Tuesday while bitcoin (BTC) remained below its Monday highs as traders await the first crypto-specific actions from from the Donald Trump administration.
AI16Z and AI Rig Complex’s ARC rose more than 30% during the day, while GRIFFAIN and ZEREBRO also saw double-digit advances. Part of this rally may be tied to Tuesday afternoon’s news that President Trump is preparing to announce up to $500 billion in private-sector AI infrastructure investments, with corporate participation such as OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank. Trump on Monday also repealed Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI risks to consumers, rolling back efforts to regulate the fast-growing sector.
The crypto-AI agent sector has garnered significant mindshare among traders, growing into a multi-billion dollar asset class since October when the first AI tokens emerged. These agents, represented by a cryptographic token, are autonomous programs developed to perform specific tasks such as posting to social media, providing market information, creating memecoins, or performing on-chain transactions to execute transactions.
“The belief was tested on AI/crypto, but after Altman gave his blessing, Trump did the same with the title of developing AI infrastructure,” said Will Clemente, founder of Reflexivity Research, in an article [thousand dollars]I think that’s where the silver ball is going.”
The market awaits Trump catalysts
The broader crypto market is in a wait-and-see mode, with most large-cap tokens on the CoinDesk 20 Index posting modest gains. Bitcoin rose 3% in the past 24 hours to $106,000, slightly below its Monday high, boosted by MicroStrategy (MSTR) adding another 11,000 BTC for $1.1 billion to its treasury. The largest company holding the asset now holds over $49 billion worth of BTC.
Ethereum Ether (ETH) is still hovering near its 4-year low against BTC as community backlash intensifies against the Ethereum Foundation, the development organization behind the blockchain, for having lost market share in value and blockchain activity to its competitors.
“In light of a strong BTC rally in an absurdly frothy weekend of memecoin madness and huge expectations for Trump’s crypto policies, we favor a gentle de-risking after a very strong two months,” analysts at K33 Research said in a Tuesday report. “We expect crypto-specific executive orders to generate volatility, with the most plausible early executive orders being the repeal of SAB 121 and the pardon of Ross Ulbricht.”
Bitcoin’s weekend rally ran into resistance at the $110,000 level, but declines to $100,000 were quickly bought back, noted Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
“There has been sell-off speculation about President Trump’s failure to make any mention of crypto at the inauguration,” Kruger said in an emailed note. “These concerns appear largely overblown, particularly given President Trump’s considerable engagement with space in recent months, including the latest launch of his memecoins, World Liberty Financial activity, and discussions in progress on a strategic reserve of bitcoins.”
“Regardless, the outlook remains exceptionally bright, with Monday’s setbacks well supported on the downside,” he added.
