TOKEN METRICS WATCHLIST

We scored many projects this week. Here are a few you should know about:

• Sentient

• Irys

• Ora

• Ink

• Exo Labs 

Please remember that some of these projects still need our code review process. Still, we want to call them out here because they preliminarily caught our eye based on our fundamental analysis process.

Sentient - 71.90%

Website | X(Twitter)

Sector - AI
Status - Upcoming Testnet 

Sentient is a decentralized protocol revolutionizing AI by making it open and community-driven. It introduces the concept of loyal AI, which is community-aligned, owned, and controlled. The protocol includes AI Models, AI Agents, and AI tools that provide intelligent outputs, while allowing for economic incentives through tokenized ownership, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. 

The Sentient protocol has two core components: blockchain and an AI pipeline. The blockchain ensures transparency and decentralized control, and the AI pipeline serves as the foundation for developing and training loyal AI through data curation and loyalty training. 

Features

• Dobby Model: Dobby is a 70B parameter upgraded version of Dobby-mini Unhinged, developed by Sentient’s AI team. It pushes the boundaries of model traceability and brings a pro-freedom/pro-crypto mindset to every conversation, whether for customer service, interactive assistants, creative projects, digital tutors, conversational chatbots, or gaming agents. 

• Model Fingerprinting: It is a way to enforce ownership and monetize open-source AI models in a decentralized setting. The approach ensures that contributors are recognized for their work while maintaining the integrity of the models developed. Fingerprinting is done using fine-tuning of the model, generating specific responses for specific queries. This enables AI model owners to protect their LLMs by embedding them with fingerprints before making them publicly accessible. 

• Data Curation: The process ensures high-quality data aligned with community value while maintaining robustness and utility. The first step is data filtering, where instructions data or community-determined rewards are carefully filtered and designed to align with community preferences. The second step is data mixing, where a balance of adversarial prompts and constructive prompts is used in the dataset to ensure that the model remains resistant to manipulation and useful for general-purpose tasks. 

• Loyalty Training: Once the dataset is curated, the next step is training the AI to integrate ownership, alignment, and control into the model.

• Robust Alignment: The supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning (RL) ensure that the model encodes specific values (crypto-friendly, libertarian, free speech, etc.) with appropriate tone and nuance. 

• Control Training: Special queries are implanted to maintain model control. These queries ensure deterministic responses to predefined inputs, enabling precise control over AI outputs. 

Investors

Sentient raised a seed round of $85M in July 2024 led by Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, and Founders Fund, and saw participation from many well-know venture funds in the industry. 

Irys - 69.52%

Website | X(Twitter)

Sector - L1
Status - Testnet

Irys is a layer 1 blockchain designed to transform data management in Web3 by introducing the world’s first programmable datachain. It solves the problem of fragmented and static data in traditional blockchains and datachains, where storage and execution are separated, limiting scalability and real-time use.

Irys uniquely integrates low-cost storage with smart contract execution, enabling data to be active and programmable. Its vision is to power a future where data is verifiable, scalable, and drives decentralized applications, particularly for AI, DePIN, and beyond, unlocking new possibilities in an onchain world. 

Features

• Programmable Data: Embeds logic into data, allowing smart contracts and AI agents to interact with it directly onchain for dynamic applications. 

• Integrated Storage & Execution: Combines affordable storage with IrysVM (EVM-compatible), bridging the gap between data and computation on one network. 

• Multi-Ledger System: Supports both temporary and permanent storage, offering flexibility for diverse use cases like short-term buffers or long-term provenance. 

• Hybrid Consensus Model: Blends Proof of Work and Staking, ensuring security and decentralization while incentivizing verifiable data storage.  

Investors 

Irys has raised a total of $8.9M across two funding rounds. The first was a $5.2M seed round in May 2022 led by Framework Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Arweave, and Permanent Ventures, with participation from other venture funds and angel investors. The second was a $3.7M strategic round in June 2024 led by Lemniscap, which was participated in by existing investors with Primitive Ventures as a new entity.

Ora - 69.52%

Website | X(Twitter)

Sector - AI
Status - Active 

Ora is a chain-agnostic oracle protocol that brings artificial intelligence and complex computations onto blockchains, breaking the limitations of traditional smart contracts. It addresses the challenges of integrating AI and large-scale computing into decentralized systems, where smart contracts lack access to rich data and processing power.

Ora’s unique offering is its ability to deliver verifiable AI inference and computation onchain, enabling developers to build innovative, trustless applications. Its vision is to make blockchains AI-native, fostering a future where decentralized AI powers a new wave of scalable, permissionless solutions.   

Features:

• Onchain AI Oracle (OAO): Integrates verifiable AI models like LLaMA 3 and Stable Diffusion into smart contracts, enabling trustless AI-driven applications. 

• Optimistic Machine Learning (opML): Uses fraud proofs to verify large AI models onchain efficiently, reducing costs compared to zero-knowledge alternatives. 

• Initial Model Offering (IMO): Tokenizes open-source AI models as ERC-20 tokens, allowing sustainable funding and community ownership of AI development. 

• Optimistic Privacy-Preserving AI (opp/ai): Combines zkML and opML to enhance privacy and efficiency, advancing secure onchain AI inference.

• Chain-Agnostic Design: It deploys across multiple networks (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, Manta, Linea), offering developers flexibility on any blockchain. 

Token

$ORA is the native token on the ecosystem designed to drive advancements in blockchain intelligence through decentralized AI. It is live and trading on Ethereum, Base, Solana, BSC, and Hyperliquid. The total supply of the $ORA token is 333,333,333, of which 36,666,666 is currently in circulation. 

Utility

• Access to IMO: Ecosystem members can access IMOs, which fund the next state-of-the-art AI models and drive innovation in open-source AI. 

• Node Operators: By staking $ORA, operators can run decentralized nodes, supporting services like OAO and RMS while earning fees. 

• Governance: Token holders play an important role in shaping the protocol's future through decentralized governance. 

Investors

Ora has raised a total of $23M across two funding rounds. The first was a $3M pre-Seed round in January 2023, led by HongShan and dao5 and participated in by Foresight Ventures and FutureMoney Group. The second was a $20M Series A round in June 2024 from Polychain Capital, HashKey Capital, SevenX Ventures, and HF0. 

Where to Buy the Token?

The $ORA token trades on centralized exchanges like CoinEX and BingX and decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Raydium, and Hyperliquid. 

Ink - 67.62%

Website | X(Twitter)

Sector - L2
Status - Active 

Ink is an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain built on the OP Stack. It is designed to serve as the premier DeFi hub within the Superchain ecosystem. It tackles the inaccessibility and complexity of decentralized finance by offering a seamless bridge from fiat to onchain opportunities, powered by Kraken’s (centralized exchange) infrastructure. Ink’s unique offerings lie in its DeFi-first design, blending rapid innovation, top-tier security, and a user-centric approach rooted in cypherpunk values. 

Features

• Fiat-to-DeFi Abstraction: Leverages Kraken’s infrastructure to simplify onboarding, connecting traditional finance to DeFi effortlessly. 

• DeFi-First Ecosystem: This ecosystem prioritizes expanding DeFi’s reach and quality, empowering builders to create innovative protocols for mass adoption. 

• Superior UX with Ink Kit: Delivers an intuitive experience via aggregation and automation, making onchain finance a breeze.

• Kraken-Backed Security: Builds on a decade of proven security expertise, ensuring trust and reliability in every transaction. 

• Superchain Interoperability: Integrates with the OP Stack network, enhancing chain connectivity and specialization. 

Exo Labs

Website | X(Twitter)

Sector - AI 
Status - Active

Exo Labs is an open-source project enabling users to run powerful AI models locally on smartphones, laptops, and desktops. It solves the problem of inaccessible AI by eliminating the need for expensive GPUs or cloud dependency, making advanced machine learning available to anyone with existing hardware. Exo’s unique offering is its ability to unify distributed devices into a single, efficient AI cluster, democratizing AI computation. 

Features

• Distributed AI Clustering: Connects devices into a unified cluster, splitting AI models across them for enhanced processing power. 

• Local Model Execution: Runs large language models (Llama, DeepSeek) on consumer hardware, keeping data private and off the cloud. 

• Pipeline Parallel Inference: Divides model layers across devices, optimizing performance for multi-request workloads like batch processing. 

• Personalized AI Agents: Integrates with phone data via the EXO Desktop App, tailoring responses to individual preferences.

• Transparent Benchmarking: Offers real-world performance data on consumer setups, helping users maximize their hardware’s potential.

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