AI-focused cryptocurrencies suffered double-digit losses following Nvidia’s largest one-day market value drop due to a reported antitrust subpoena from the US Department of Justice.
AI chip giant Nvidia experienced a significant downturn on Sep. 4, with its stock plummeting by 9.53%, descending from an opening price of $116.02 to $108. This drastic decline led to a sharp reduction in the company’s market capitalization, which declined by $270 billion, falling from $2.92 trillion to $2.65 trillion, the largest single-day market cap loss reported for any U.S. company.
Moreover, after the market closed, Bloomberg revealed that Nvidia had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an antitrust investigation. Nvidia’s stock continued to decline in after-hours trading, according to Google Finance.
Antitrust officials are concerned that Nvidia may be restricting customers from switching to competitors and penalizing those who don’t exclusively use its AI chips.
Following the DOJ probe on Nvidia, Akash Network (AKT) fell by 11%, down from an intraday high of $2.4 to $2.15, its lowest price on the day. Similarly, Bittensor (TAO), Render Token (RNDR), and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) also fell over 10% before recovering some of the losses at the time of writing.
According to CoinGecko, the market cap of all AI tokens fell by over 6.9% on Sep. 4, while the trading volume dipped to $1 billion.
Although Nvidia’s stock fell today, it has seen a remarkable surge of over 118% in 2024, boosting its market cap to over $2.65 trillion and ranking it as the world’s third-largest company.
Analysts had projected Nvidia’s revenue to reach $28.6 billion in the second quarter.
Strong revenue performance and positive forward guidance from Nvidia suggest a promising outlook for the AI crypto industry, potentially driving up prices for related assets. However, results falling below estimates usually trigger a significant market correction.
Akash Network and Render collaborate with Nvidia as they operate at the intersection of the blockchain and semiconductor industries. This collaborations enables the distribution of GPU rendering solutions on the blockchain network. According to Akash Network’s website, Nvidia’s H100 GPU, which typically retails for over $30,000, can be rented for less than $1 per hour.
Similarly, Bittensor offers a decentralized platform for developing machine intelligence solutions, following a distributed model akin to Akash Network.
Additionally, the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, which includes initiatives like Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Protocol, also intersects with Nvidia’s business interests. The partnership focuses on expediting the development of decentralized artificial general intelligence and, ultimately, artificial superintelligence , complementing Nvidia’s work in the semiconductor and AI sectors.
