Share this article
AI Crypto Tokens Nurse Losses as Nvidia Bearish Options Bets Cross the Tape
These could be protective plays, one observer said, referring to the activity in the NVDA put options.
Apr 15, 2025, 1:36 p.m.
What to know:
- Tokens linked to artificial intelligence underperformed major cryptocurrencies in the last 24 hours, with Bittensor's TAO and Render Network's RNDR both declining.
- Unusual activity in Nvidia's short-duration put options suggests traders are hedging against potential market downturns, Convex Value said.
- Nvidia announced plans to manufacture AI supercomputers in the U.S., marking a significant shift in AI infrastructure production.
Tokens associated with artificial intelligence (AI) fared worse than the biggest cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours. The relative weakness comes amid unusual activity in put options tied to shares of Nvidia (NVDA), the chipmaker that on Monday said it will will start building its AI supercomputers in the U.S.
While bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market value, added 0.6% over 24 hours to $85,500, TAO, the token of blockchain-based machine learning network Bittensor, traded 3.6% lower at $239 and decentralized GPU rendering platform Render Network's RNDR token was 1.7% down at $3.93, according to data source Coingecko. Other tokens, including FET, SEI and GRT lost 2%.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Nvidia short-dated put options saw notable activity on Monday, according to data tracked by Convex Value. The action was concentrated in the $100 strike put options expiring on April 17, April 25 and May 2. Additionally, there was activity in the $60 put expiring on April 17 and $50 and $85 strike puts expiring on May 16.
Convex Value called the activity in these so-called out-of-the-money put options at strikes below the Santa Clara, California-based company's spot price of $110 unusual. "My bet would be [these are] protective plays," an analyst at the platform told CoinDesk.
Buying a put option is akin to buying insurance against market slides. Traders typically snap them up when looking to profit from or hedge their spot/futures bets from a potential market decline.
"Someone knows something," Substack-based analytics service Merlin Capital posted on X.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Long-Term Holders Hit Cyclical Low as Sell Pressure Finally Eases
Long-term holder supply bottomed when bitcoin sank to $80K, signaling that the wave of spot-driven selling may be nearing exhaustion as prices rebound to $90K.
What to know:
- Long-term holder supply fell to 14.33M BTC in November, its lowest level since March, coinciding with bitcoin’s $80K correction low.
- The rebound to $90K suggests the bulk of spot-driven selling from seasoned holders has passed after a 36% peak-to-trough decline.
- Unlike prior cycles, LTH behavior in 2025 shows more measured distribution rather than blow-off-top capitulation, signaling a shift in market structure.
Top Stories
