Michael Heinrich loves AI coins Goat, Turbo & Aethir… but not TAO: Hall of Flame

While many crypto traders are hedging their bets on which AI crypto tokens will soar in the next bull run, 0G Labs co-founder and CEO Michael Heinrich believes the most promising ones have yet to hit the market.

“I think most of the best decentralized AI tokens are still to list,” Heinrich tells Hall of Flame.

However, he is “bullish” on three particular AI crypto tokens that are already floating around on the major crypto exchanges.

“Some public ones I’m following are Goat, Turbo and Aethir,” he explains.

“Goat and Turbo are experiments in AI memes, which is fun to watch as a movement.”

Aethir (ATH), meanwhile, has been compared to Airbnb for GPU computing, and Heinrich is “hoping they can unlock full permissionless [access] to” its decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN).

But he’s “not so interested” in Bittensor (TAO), the second-biggest AI crypto token by market capitalization.

While Heinrich believes the token may do well, he says the project doesn’t “solve for true AI onchain.”

He explains that it’s more of a “coordination mechanism,” allowing 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 first bought Bitcoin in 2013, and by the “first major bull market” in 2017, he had already been running Bitcoin mining operations.

In 2023, he launched infrastructure firm 0G Labs — which is creating a modular AI blockchain — with serial entrepreneur Fan Long and his former Stanford University classmate Thomas Yao.

“It was inevitable that I would be drawn just as quickly to AI, and when an opportunity came to combine these two emerging technologies, I leaped at the chance,” he says.

“I didn’t have a complete idea of how Web3 and AI were going to coalesce; it was clear to me that there were clear synergies between the two technologies and that combining them had the potential to elevate both industries.”

How did Michael Heinrich build his following?

Heinrich’s insights on the intersection of crypto and AI have helped him gain over 250,000 followers on X. He says the secret to building a big following is just being true to yourself and not being afraid to challenge the mainstream audience every now and then.

“Be honest. Be yourself. Be controversial,” Heinrich says.

He also thinks you shouldn’t fear making mistakes, which is probably music to the ears of super bullish crypto traders who are making daily six-figure Bitcoin price predictions.

“Be okay with occasionally being wrong,” Heinrich adds.

And for tech executives who pay PR agencies to manage their social media, Heinrich thinks that is pretty lame.

“People want to read the opinions of other people: raw, unfiltered and from the soul. If you can’t do that, X probably isn’t the platform for you.”

What type of content does Michael Heinrich create?

Most of his content is about AI and Web3. He regularly sheds light on the ethical side of AI since half the world is freaking out about it stealing their jobs.

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

Heinrich also enjoys human interest stories that “make us feel something” and shares them with his followers. 

“If it’s got a compelling narrative and an unlikely main character, I’m very down with it, whether the protagonist is a tech founder or an AI agent,” he adds. 

He notes that Goat was pumped up by such a story — about venture capitalist Marc Andreessen donating $50,000 to an AI bot.

“If you’re none the wiser, you’re missing out on some of the most fun you can have on the internet and a fascinating insight into the shape of tech to come.”

Predictions by Michael Heinrich

Heinrich has three predictions for the next 12 months and admits he “might be wrong about one of them,” but he’s confident that two will hit the mark.

“I won’t be wrong about all three,” he laughs.

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

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

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

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Ciaran Lyons

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He’s also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.