The Year Ahead: Forecasts from our Investment Team "Crypto will become a building block for better AI products.” 1kx Research Partner @_weidai shares his POV: There has been a lot of hype surrounding the intersection of crypto and AI, and there is significant value in leveraging crypto rails or technologies in AI products; however, just adding decentralization or a token isn’t enough. What matters for 2026 is that projects start to leverage crypto to build better AI products. For example, programmable incentives for bootstrapping data networks or coordination, discovery, and reputation platforms for agents are each made more efficient with crypto. Standards such as @ethereum Improvement Proposal ERC-8004 (eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-800... and x402 payment protocol (coinbase.com/developer-platfor...…) point toward agents that can prove who they are and pay each other in real time. Key takeaway for the year ahead: Only adding decentralization or a token is not enough.