This mirrors how every tech sector matures.
1. Early phase: everything pumps on narrative proximity
2. Middle phase: market starts sorting by function
3. Late phase: only the ones with actual revenue or irreplaceable positioning survive
AI x crypto is entering the middle phase now. The basket trade is dead. What replaces it is stock-picking logic.
Which tokens have defensible moats vs which ones are just AI-adjacent.
Most aren't ready for that filter.
h/t to @0xJeff for the infographics

The AI sector is not rallying as a block.
It is sorting itself by function.
At roughly $26.3B in total market cap, AI remains range-bound at the aggregate level. Beneath that flat headline, performance dispersion has widened across CoinGecko’s AI categories and individual

THEDEFIPLUG

Twitter

The release of this new regulation marks a historic leap in the attitude of Chinese regulators towards virtual assets, shifting from a "complete ban" to a "combination of restriction and guidance."

Article Author & Source: Guofeng Law Firm On February 6, 2026, the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks Related to Virtual Currencies" (Yinfa [2026] No. 42, hereinafter referred to as "Document No. 42"), jointly issued by eight ministries led by the People's Bank of China, and the "Regulatory Guidelines on the Issuance of Asset-Backed Securities Tokens Overseas by Domestic Assets" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") simultaneously issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, have triggered significant reactions in the legal and financial circles...

Breaking News! The Year of China's RWA: A Compliant Channel Opens for Trillions of Yuan in Domestic Assets to Go Global

Unusual trading in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has led traders to speculate that this week’s sharp Bitcoin drop may have been triggered by one or more Hong Kong–based hedge ...

Bitcoin Selloff Sparks Hedge Fund Speculation Around BlackRock ETF

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes wrote that the recent Bitcoin crash may stem from traders' concerns about IBIT (BlackRock) […]
The article, "Arthur Hayes Speculates on BTC Crash Cause: 'Institutional Hedging Operations': IBIT Options Explode $900 Million," was originally published on BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain ABMedia media.

Arthur Hayes speculates that the reason for the BTC crash is "institutional hedging operations": IBIT options saw a surge of $900 million.

Super excited to see the middleware & infrastructure layers maturing.
ERC-8004 going live on mainnet = much better distribution, and revenue potential for the app layer.
And thanks for the h/t my man!

Yesser. Infra maturity is where the sector stops being a narrative trade and starts being real.

there's only one option = we have to evolve with AI