The total cryptocurrency market cap rose by 3.1% to $2.48 trillion, indicating a favorable risk-on sentiment likely influenced by Ardoino's comments.

Additionally, the total DeFi total value locked (TVL) increased by 5% to $95 billion over the past week, signaling institutional inflow into blockchain projects integrating AI technologies.

Social media mentions of 'decentralized AI' surged by 15% over the past 48 hours, reflecting increased interest in Ardoino's narrative and its implications for AI tokens.

Traders are advised to monitor market conditions for AI tokens, as rapid price surges can precede corrections, highlighting the associated volatility.

On-chain data reveals RNDR's active addresses increased by 7.3% to 25,400, indicating growing network activity and potential for sustained price rallies.

On June 13, 2025, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, sparked discussions in the cryptocurrency market by tweeting 'Peer AI > State AI', highlighting the debate between decentralized and centralized AI systems.

In a follow-up tweet on June 15, Ardoino emphasized the necessity of human control over AI, comparing its influence on creativity to that of calculators on mental arithmetic.

Ardoino's insights underscore the growing intersection of AI and blockchain technology, creating new investment opportunities in AI-centric cryptocurrencies.

As a result of this narrative, AI-focused tokens like Render Token (RNDR) and Fetch.ai (FET) have seen notable gains, with RNDR rising 3.5% to $7.80 and FET increasing 4.1% to $1.45.

Trading volumes for RNDR surged by 12.4% to $185 million, while FET's volume increased by 9.8% to $142 million, indicating heightened trader activity in the AI token sector.

These AI tokens have shown a strong positive correlation with Bitcoin's price movements, with coefficients of 0.78 for RNDR-BTC and 0.72 for FET-BTC, suggesting that Bitcoin's fluctuations significantly influence AI token prices.

The rising institutional interest in blockchain-based AI solutions is reflected in a reported 10% increase in venture capital funding for AI-crypto startups, reaching $1.2 billion in Q2 2025.