Morning Minute is a daily newsletter crafted by Tyler Warner. The views and analyses presented are solely his own and do not necessarily represent those of Decrypt.
Good morning!
Here are the key highlights for today:
- Major cryptocurrencies have bounced back, rising between 1-3%; Bitcoin is up 2% to $79.5k.
- VVV has surged 40% to $27, reaching a new all-time high amid the OpenAI dispute; ZEC and LIT also rose 10% to new highs.
- Strategy refrained from purchasing Bitcoin, opting instead to invest $176 million in STRC, which is priced at $97.94.
- Pump.fun has seen a rebound in revenue as Solana tokens regain their lead in market share.
- The Stonkfun ecosystem has surged, with Stonk increasing by 50% to a market cap of $200 million.
🔒 A Dispute Over an AI Mathematical Proof Boosts VVV and Private Inference
VVV experienced a remarkable 34% increase on Tuesday, reaching $24.77, driven by a significant rise in trading volume. This surge was triggered by a public disagreement between a mathematician from NYU and OpenAI regarding the attribution of fluid dynamics proofs.
The situation is complicated and disputed, with the mathematician clarifying that he is not accusing anyone of misusing his data, while OpenAI has denied any unauthorized access. However, the broader question circulating on platforms such as X and Hacker News was straightforward: could a researcher's private dialogues with a chatbot inadvertently influence a competitor's work? Although no evidence has substantiated this claim, many found the question believable.
This concern aligns with the narrative Venice has been promoting since January 2025. The project, founded by Erik Voorhees of ShapeShift, aims to create an AI platform where user prompts remain on their devices, rather than being stored on corporate servers. The platform employs open-source models, imposes no content filtering, and does not require user accounts.
The VVV token functions as an access key rather than a governance token. By staking VVV, users earn a proportional share of daily API inference capacity. Additionally, a second token, DIEM, is generated by locking staked VVV and provides $1 per day of API credit indefinitely. Emission rates have been reduced several times, from an initial 14 million annually at launch to 2.5 million as of September 1, with a further reduction to 2 million expected in October. A portion of the revenue is utilized to buy VVV on the open market and subsequently burn it. Venice disclosed in August that it surpassed a $100 million annualized revenue run rate, a rise from $70 million the previous month.
This situation underscores the growing importance of privacy as a significant narrative in this market cycle. Zcash’s ZEC token recently broke out of a nine-year trading range to achieve new highs above $1,200, with predictions suggesting it could reach 0.1 BTC this cycle. The increasing demand for wealth privacy, especially in light of proposed billionaire taxes, is fueling this trend. Consequently, the case for private AI inference is gaining traction. Any suggestion that leading labs are appropriating ideas from their users for their own advancements will likely face substantial backlash. A crypto protocol offers a compelling alternative, especially with a product that is already generating substantial revenue. This narrative positions VVV as a noteworthy player to monitor in the upcoming bull market.