Michael Heinrich likes the AI ​​coins Goat, Turbo and Aethir, but does not like TAO: Hall of Flame.

While many cryptocurrency traders are betting on how AI cryptocurrency tokens will soar in the next bull market, Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G Labs, believes that the most promising tokens are yet to hit the market.

“I think most of the best decentralized AI tokens are not listed yet,” Heinrich told Hall of Flame.

However, he is “optimistic” about three specific AI cryptocurrency tokens that are already floating around on major cryptocurrency exchanges.

“The public ones I follow include Goat, Turbo and Aethir,” he explains.

“Goat and Turbo are an experiment in AI memes, which are fun to watch in motion.”

Meanwhile, Aethir (ATH) has been compared to Airbnb in terms of GPU computing, with Heinrich “hoping to be able to unlock completely permissionless (access) to DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network)”.

However, he is “not really interested” in Bittensor (TAO), the second largest AI cryptocurrency token by market capitalization.

Heinrich believes the token can achieve good results, but says the project does not “true solve AI on-chain.”

He describes it as more of a “coordination mechanism” to allow people to collaborate and share AI models, rather than truly solving the problem of making AI fully accessible to everyone.

Heinrich is an East Berlin native who grew up in San Francisco. He bought his first Bitcoin in 2013, and was already running a Bitcoin mining operation during the “first major bull market” of 2017.

In 2023, he founded 0G Labs, an infrastructure company building a modular AI blockchain, with serial entrepreneur Fan Long and his former Stanford University classmate Thomas Yao.

“It was inevitable that I would quickly gravitate towards AI, and when the opportunity arose to combine these two new technologies, I jumped at the chance,” he says.

“I didn’t have a complete idea of ​​how Web3 and AI would integrate. It has become clear that there are clear synergies between the two technologies and that combining them has the potential to advance both industries.”

How did Michael Heinrich build his following?

Heinrich’s insights into the intersection of cryptocurrency and AI have helped X gain over 250,000 followers. He says the secret to building a large following is to be true to yourself and not be afraid to challenge the mainstream audience from time to time.

“Be honest. Be yourself. It’s debatable,” says Heinrich.

He also believes that one should not be afraid to make mistakes, which may be music to the ears of ultra-optimistic cryptocurrency traders who make six-figure Bitcoin price predictions every day.

“It’s okay to be wrong sometimes,” adds Heinrich.

For tech executives who pay a PR agency to manage their social media, Heinrich thinks this is a very poor thing to do.

“People want to read other people’s opinions – the opinions of their pure, unfiltered soul. If you can’t do that, then X is probably not the platform for you.”

What type of content does Michael Heinrich produce?

Most of his content is on AI and Web3. He regularly sheds light on the ethical aspects of AI, as half the world is worried about AI stealing their jobs.

“I am working to build a movement for AI as a public good and for AI that serves human needs,” he says.

Heinrich also enjoys sharing interesting human stories that “make you feel something” with his followers.

“If you have a compelling narrative and an unexpected protagonist, whether that protagonist is a tech startup or an AI agent, I’m very disappointed in it,” he added.

He says Goat was excited by the story that venture capitalist Marc Andreessen had donated $50,000 to an AI robot.

“If you’re not smart, you’re missing out on some of the most fun the Internet has to offer and fascinating insights into the technologies ahead.”

Michael Heinrich’s Predictions

Heinrich has three predictions for the next 12 months and, although he admits “one of them might be wrong,” he is confident two will hit their targets.

“You won’t go wrong with all three.” he laughed.

Heinrich’s first prediction is that data centers will “start losing market share” to DePIN.

His second bet is that AI will become the “largest” decentralized finance (DeFi) vertical by total value locked (TVL).

His third prediction is that “there will be more innovation in distributed training and AI alignment research.”

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Ciaran Lyon

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian cryptocurrency journalist. He is also a stand-up comedian and radio and TV presenter for Triple J, SBS and The Project.