It would be hard to identify a technology trend that’s hotter than artificial intelligence or blockchain at the minute, as companies across the world in almost every industry race to integrate these technologies into their business operations.

But although AI and blockchain share many similarities, being concerned with storing and using vast amounts of data, no one has yet managed to come up with a practical solution to integrate these two exciting technologies. That’s a shame because the combination of AI and blockchain would create immense value.

As an example, future smart contracts with AI capabilities would be exponentially more powerful than those that exist now. Smart contracts are protocols that automatically execute transactions when certain, encoded conditions are met. However, smart contracts are somewhat constrained, as they must follow strict rules, which hampers the ability of developers to integrate AI models and services within them.

What Is Oraichain All About?

Oraichain is a project that’s seeking to solve the incompatibility between AI and blockchain. It’s focused on connecting smart contracts to AI-based application programming interfaces or APIs, and claims to be the world’s first and only AI-powered data oracle.

Oraichain makes it possible for smart contracts to be enhanced by securely accessing external AI APIs. For now, the project is focused mainly on AI-based price oracles, but by enabling smart contracts to access AI models, it can dramatically enhance the functionality of blockchains. Oraichain-based decentralized applications can tap into external, AI data by sending requests to validators, who perform the role of acquiring and testing this data, which is supplied by external AI APIs. Once the data is confirmed, it can be stored on-chain, where it can be accessed via dApps with complete confidence.

A key component of Oraichain’s infrastructure is its AI Marketplace, where AI providers can sell their AI services. Users pay to access these services in ORAI tokens. Some of the existing AI services on Oraichain’s AI marketplace include price prediction, yield farming and biometric authentication.

For AI providers, one of the main advantages of the Oraichain AI Marketplace is the elimination of intermediary platforms, which enables smaller teams to compete more effectively with leading AI companies such as OpenAI.

Recent Progress

Oraichain’s mission to enable blockchain-based AI has gotten a lot of traction recently, with the most recent update being the beta launch of the OraiBTC Subnet, which is said to be a key step on the road to the debut of Oraichain Mainnet 3.0, due later this year.

OraiBTC is the latest subnet on the Oraichain Mainnet, acting as a decentralized bridge between Oraichain and the Bitcoin network. It enables BTC to be deposited into the Oraichain ecosyswaps and the ability to bridge BTC to and from Oraichain.

While making progress on its roadmap, Oraichain is getting traction in the market too, as is shown by the growing strength of its native ORAI token, which has seen its value rise by more than 168% over the last 12 months.

Why Does Blockchain Need AI?

Oraichain lists dozens of promising use cases for AI-enhanced blockchain dApps, including DeFi apps with powerful, automated trading strategies based on real-world data. The advantage of AI in finance is that it’s much better at spotting trends and signals amid the deluge of token price data. It’s also much faster, allowing for the possibility of more intelligent, automated trading bots that can react to market changes.

Other use cases include the “Internet of Things”, with AI promising to enhance the capabilities of smart factories with advanced anomaly detection, failure point detection, object network analysis and other features. Blockchain security can also be boosted by AI, which enables more advanced biometric recognition and authentication techniques. For instance, dApps would be able to connect multiple biometrics such as face scans, fingerprint scans, retina or iris scans and voice to create multiple, highly secure login features. In addition, AI can help to analyze login behavior to detect any suspicious activity.

Blockchain AI will also support use cases in specific industries, such as AI-based insurance strategies that leverage data from on-chain and off-chain sources. The idea is that insurers can create profiles that can be used to validate qualifications, protect against fraudulent claims, and predict payouts.

Global logistics operations are already one of the main beneficiaries of blockchain technology, which helps with tracking and forecasting. By integrating AI into these systems, users will be able to further optimize delivery routes, productivity and safety. Last but not least, blockchain AI will be able to help with talent spotting and recruiting, with blockchain storing the details of applicants in a more secure way, while AI filters out applicants based on their qualifications, experiences and any evaluation tests they have performed.

Maximizing Ecosystem Value

Oraichain has emerged at the forefront of blockchain’s convergence with AI, but it faces challenges around meeting the demand for powerful GPU processing resources that support AI workloads, and providing maximum value for ORAI token holders.

To solve these challenges, Oraichain has come up with an initiative called GPU Staking, which effectively kills two birds with one stone.

The AI industry is all the rage these days thanks to the popularity of generative AI models such as ChatGPT, and that has led to an explosion in demand for GPUs, which are the most efficient chips for powering AI workloads. With GPU Staking, Oraichain says it has hit on a novel concept that will ensure its network has a sufficient quantity of GPU compute resources available to users.

The Oraichain Foundation recently submitted a proposal to make GPU Staking a reality, noting that it is already buying up GPUs in vast quantities to support its network. This infrastructure will be essential for dApps built on Oraichain, and GPU Staking will help to ensure that the value its network generates provides practical benefits for ORAI token holders.

The GPU Staking mechanism will allow ORAI token stakers to restake their scORAI tokens (the liquid staking token of ORAI) to earn USDC rewards, so they can benefit directly from the revenue generated by its AI services. Under this mechanism, dApps will pay to access AI services in stablecoins such as USDC, with stakers being able to earn from both GPU demand and also through block rewards. The plan also calls for independent GPU providers to join the Oraichain network and earn revenue from Oraichain-based dApps.

The project also believes that its network and model will ensure a steady demand for GPU services, and cites a number of projects and use cases to support this theory. Some of the top projects building on Oraichain have already demonstrated significant GPU utilization, including aiRight, DeFI Lens, KawaiiQ and Cupiee, as have the various large language models and AI-based trading strategy agents deployed on Oraichain.

GPU Staking will ensure the value created by GPU demand is fed back into its ecosystem, no matter if it’s a crypto-native project such as DeFi Lens, or a non-crypto-focused project, such as KawaiiQ and Cupiee. Meanwhile, GPU providers will also be able to tap into the value created by the demand for Oraichain’s resources.

A Bright Future For AI + Blockchain

Oraichain is still a fairly young project, but it has already made significant progress, and the launch of mainnet version 3.0 and GPU staking should spur yet more growth in its network. As one of the few projects attempting to combine the benefits of AI and blockchain, Oraichain has already demonstrated significant momentum. With the broader industry trend for AI showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, Oraichain has enormous potential to improve its relevance and boost its standing in the ultra-competitive blockchain space.

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