The crypto AI sector staged a sharp rally after the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an emergency export-control directive that forced Anthropic to suspend global access to its flagship models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Citing national security without detailed public evidence, the order initially aimed to block foreign nationals—but technical limitations forced a worldwide shutdown. The move exposed the structural vulnerability of centralized AI systems and immediately redirected market attention to decentralized alternatives, sending several AI-related tokens up by double-digit percentages.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the decentralized AI token segment gained around 10% over the following ten days. Bittensor (TAO) climbed to $278.65 with a 5.5% daily gain and $567.9 million in trading volume. NEAR Protocol (NEAR) surged 18.9% to trade above $2.47, backed by $514.6 million in volume. Render (RENDER) added 6.7%, reaching $1.85, while Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) jumped 9.6% to over $0.22. Injective (INJ) rose 7.9% to $5.48, with Filecoin (FIL), Internet Computer (ICP), Venice Token (VVV), and DeXe (DEXE) also posting strong gains.
Beyond token prices, Chinese AI firm Zhipu (listed in Hong Kong as Knowledge Atlas Technology) saw its stock surge 33% on the same day. The company launched its GLM-5.2 model with a message that “cutting-edge intelligence should not belong to only a few, nor should it be withdrawn at any time,” framing openness as a competitive advantage. This narrative—contrasting US frontier models that are becoming more restricted with Chinese models that are affordable and open—is resonating with developers and enterprises wary of dependency on US platforms. Bank of America initiated coverage of Zhipu and rival MiniMax with buy ratings, arguing China can capture a meaningful share of the global AI market in the “value-for-money” segment.
The episode reinforces a fundamental thesis: when centralized AI faces state intervention, decentralized networks become an operational and investment hedge. As access to advanced models can be withdrawn overnight on political grounds, the appeal of permissionless, community-governed AI infrastructure grows—directly benefiting the tokens that power such ecosystems.
