Crypto’s AI trade is starting to look less like a rising tide and more like a stock-picker’s market. Capital is flowing into a handful of projects while hundreds of AI-labeled tokens struggle for attention.

CoinMarketCap’s Alice Liu says that shift signals something important: investors are finally demanding more than an AI narrative.

AI Capital Gets Selective

“More capital, fewer names. The AI tag is free; the market is finally charging for it,” Liu, Head of Research at CoinMarketCap, told Benzinga in an exclusive email interview.

CoinMarketCap’s AI & Big Data category currently spans about 945 tokens with a combined market capitalization of $18.5 billion, or roughly 0.7% of the $2.64 trillion crypto market, Liu told Benzinga.

But the…