Digital Currency Group (DCG) founder Barry Silbert, who earned the status of a “crypto king” in the industry for building a massive institutional empire and making early investments in Bitcoin, is shifting his capital focus to the decentralized artificial intelligence market.

His new major bet is the Bittensor AI token ($TAO), in which the investor, who for years has remained one of the main defenders of Zcash (ZEC) on Wall Street, sees a direct continuation of the scarcity model behind privacy coins.

The discussion in the industry was sparked by a widely shared social media thread in which analysts compared the fundamental properties of the two ecosystems.

DCG chief brings the scarcity model of Zcash and Bitcoin to the decentralized AI…