Vietnamese try their luck at AI cryptocurrencies

Nguyen Lam, 34, an office clerk in Ho Chi Minh City, says he knows that many AI cryptocurrencies, tokens that power AI blockchain platforms such as SingularityNET and Fetch.ai, can be short-lived, but has still invested US$100-200 in them, hoping to make a quick buck.

"AI is attracting a lot of attention right now, so the price of AI cryptocurrencies can skyrocket overnight. I have bought a few AI cryptocurrencies, and plan to sell them as soon as I see the price increase."

Quang Thuan, administrator of a cryptocurrency investment group with 43,000 members, says: "In posts about AI crypto, many members frankly say they are trying their luck, just buying a token suggested by someone, instead of carefully analyzing the technology and potential of the project."

Many people have decided to invest in AI cryptocurrencies for short terms to make a quick profit, he says. However, the lifespan of these tokens is often very short and unpredictable.

Amid the hype about OpenAI's new chatbot ChatGPT launched late last year, AI-linked crypto tokens have been rising rapidly too, with tokens like SingularityNet and SingularityDAO soaring 126-138% over the span of a few days in early February, Bloomberg reported.

According to Luan Tran, chief technology officer of a blockchain startup in HCMC, Vietnamese are interested in certain AI cryptocurrencies, including Cortex, Numerai, SingularityNET, and Fetch.AI.

"Many flock to AI and lose money because they don’t understand the nature of technology and merely try their luck based on rumors."

In late February blockchain security company PeckShield found dozens of scam tokens looking to profit from the ChatGPT AI chatbot craze.

Another common scam is called "rug pull," where a developer or creator promotes a project such as a new coin or non-fungible token (NFT) and then disappears with investors’ money.