Identifying Alpha projects is the most profitable investment strategy. Finding Alpha in the AI sector is particularly effective in this bull market. AI is the biggest consensus in both Eastern and Western markets: from Masa focusing on AI data, and Bittensor specializing in AI models, to numerous AI dApps concentrating on social, chatbots, DeFi, and other specific application scenarios. AI tokens are generally appreciating amidst the rising market, with Bittensor (TAO) seeing an astonishing annual growth rate of 972.6%. Despite the fervent AI construction, the ecosystem is still incomplete, particularly concerning digital property rights and AI asset tokenization. Web3 aims to break the monopoly of AI giants through decentralization, trusted execution of contracts, and privacy protection, enabling AI contributors to be rewarded for their efforts, thus aggregating numerous small AI entities to collaborate on AI development.

This is precisely what KIP Protocol, a Web3 underlying protocol focused on AI, aims to do: using SFT to enable digital rights confirmation and AI asset tokenization, creating a virtuous cycle among data owners, model designers, and AI app developers. Participants can retain complete digital property rights and easily interact with other AI assets to earn revenue without losing access control. It also creates an AI Lego to unleash AI combinability, promoting industry development and efficient circulation of assets, ensuring a decentralized AI business blueprint where participants are rewarded for their efforts.

Recently, with the announcement of its partnership with the well-known Web3 education platform Open Campus and the successful completion of the inaugural NFT Mint, KIP Protocol has once again attracted the attention of many Alpha hunters. This article aims to explore KIP Protocol, examining its innovative designs in data ownership, AI knowledge assetization, and achieving a fair and efficient circulation of AI assets, to gain insights into the project’s empowerment of the AI track, and the opportunities and challenges it faces as a Web3 decentralized underlying protocol.

Breaking the Monopoly, Reward for Effort: Unlocking and Efficiently Circulating AI Asset Value

The value logic of KIP Protocol can be summarized in one phrase: KnowledgeFi, or knowledge monetization, reward for effort. To achieve a reward for effort, it is essential to identify who the “labourers” are in the AI ecosystem, i.e., who are the contributors. Observing AI projects, we can easily categorize three types of AI value creators:

• Data Owners: Data is the fuel for AI development. We all know that the more abundant the data fed to AI, the smarter the AI becomes. Therefore, incentivizing a broader range of data owners to share larger datasets is crucial for AI development.
• AI Model Creators: Models are the brains of AI, providing it with logical thinking. Different types of AI models are suitable for a wide range of application scenarios.
• AI App Developers: As the concrete manifestation of AI services in specific application scenarios, AI apps are the bridge between technology and users. They accumulate users and generate revenue by providing high-quality services.

After identifying the main contributors in the AI ecosystem, the next question is how to quantify their contributions to achieve more transparent and efficient value distribution. This issue can be simplified into three steps: First, contributors need a unique on-chain identifier to bind value to the contributor, establishing AI knowledge asset ownership. Second, it is necessary to ensure that the contributor’s efforts are honestly recorded. Finally, these recorded contributions are tokenized, and efficient value transfer between different contributors is achieved through contracts.

KIP Protocol uses SFT (Semi-Fungible Token) to realize these concepts. SFT lies between fungible tokens (FT) and non-fungible tokens (NFT) but cleverly integrates the attributes of both. It is a calculable, partially combinable, but essentially heterogeneous token that is both divisible and unique. SFT under the ERC-3525 standard not only describes the form of the asset but also its quantity, making the ID-to-ID transmission model possible, greatly expanding the application scenarios of tokens in the real world. Examples include using SFT to mint branded membership cards with brand identification, usage validity, and usage restrictions, or collaborative art pieces by multiple creators that automatically distribute profits according to fan contributions through SFT.

In the KIP Protocol system, SFT mainly functions to achieve digital rights confirmation and AI asset tokenization:

In digital rights confirmation, SFT includes an ID attribute equivalent to EIP-721, aiming to identify each AI contributor as a universally unique entity so that tokens can be transferred between addresses and approved in an EIP-721-compatible manner.

In AI asset tokenization, different AI contributors can tokenize their AI assets: Data owners can tokenize their data value under privacy protection, with SFT representing a vectorized knowledge base or an encrypted raw data file link for model training; AI model creators can tokenize the value of their AI models, with SFT representing an API to an off-chain model or a set of weights available for sale; AI app developers can tokenize the value of their products, with SFT representing a front-end API or the product itself. These SFTs can interact on-chain, recording the amount earned from specific transactions.

Let’s take AI models as an example to understand how SFTs realize the tokenization and efficient circulation of AI asset value: An AI model can be minted into an SFT and then split into multiple fungible fragments. The model’s creator can hold 60% themselves and sell the remaining 40% to investors. In this way, users can own and trade part of the AI model, allowing even ordinary users to directly participate in the investment and profit-sharing of AI models.

As a Web3 underlying protocol focused on AI, another innovative highlight of the KIP Protocol is its status as the world’s first protocol supporting decentralized RAG.

Generally, AI’s intelligent development involves feeding data to AI, allowing it to learn and absorb this data to generate responses when answering user questions. RAG, short for Retrieval Augmented Generation, refers to optimizing the output of large language models by allowing them to retrieve third-party databases while generating answers, providing users with more intelligent responses through a combination of generation and indexing.

During the decentralized RAG call process of KIP Protocol, users can first mint their AI assets into SFTs. When RAG calls user SFTs, the SFTs will record and calculate contributions and automatically split and withdraw revenue. This significantly reduces the risk of privacy leaks since RAG only indexes user data rather than learning it, keeping data ownership and access control in the hands of users. Additionally, this lowers the barrier for ordinary users to participate in AI. Whether on-chain or off-chain, even small-scale AI creators can contribute to answering user queries through the KIP Protocol decentralized RAG framework. This decentralized AI development model not only completely subverts the traditional AI monopolies but also promotes AI’s rapid development towards greater intelligence, fairness, and transparent value flow through the participation of a wider range of contributors.

KIP Protocol’s decentralized AI business blueprint, built on the decentralized RAG framework, is beginning to take shape: Kipley.ai is a security-focused multi-model RAG platform designed to help users easily create knowledge assets and offer a marketplace for these assets, currently in testing. KnowledgeFi.xyz is a knowledge platform built on the KIP protocol, aimed at using AI to facilitate direct communication between users and experts, enabling more efficient knowledge sharing and tokenization. KIP Starter is a decentralized knowledge asset launchpad that provides value discovery, project exposure, and fundraising services for the KIP Protocol ecosystem.

Indeed, KIP Protocol’s vision for a decentralized AI ecosystem is already emerging, but many industry practitioners believe that practice is the ultimate test of truth. After understanding KIP Protocol’s infrastructure, the recent announcement of a partnership with the Web3 education protocol platform Open Campus provides a successful example of KIP Protocol’s operational logic in the education field.

Focused on the Educational Sector Favoured by CZ: Partnering with Open Campus to Create Engaging Web3 Educational Services

In April 2024, KIP Protocol announced a deep partnership with the well-known Web3 education platform Open Campus. The two parties will explore the application of blockchain and AI technology in education, bringing more intelligent methods for acquiring industry knowledge and more transparent and efficient digital intellectual property monetization to the public. In the future, they will also host AMA and other activities to attract early users, build an active community, and explore more diverse forms of Web3 education.

The collaboration between KIP Protocol and Open Campus not only represents a successful practice of KIP Protocol’s operational logic in the education field but also reaffirms the market’s recognition of KIP Protocol’s vision of “breaking monopolies, rewarding labour, and realizing the value release and efficient circulation of AI assets” in a win-win situation.

For Open Campus, partnering with KIP Protocol provides users with more complete and intelligent educational services, further implementing its vision of “making educators’ contributions visible and continuously introducing incremental users to the industry.”

For KIP Protocol, this collaboration introduces high-quality projects into its ecosystem and showcases its mature products and technical capabilities, allowing its services to reach millions of schools, educational institutions, educators, and users worldwide.

The Web3 education sector, focused on by this KIP Protocol and Open Campus collaboration, has remained hot in recent years, with Binance’s former CEO CZ being one of its active promoters. After being sentenced to four months in prison, CZ emphasized his future focus on education, using AI, NFT, and other technologies to create a high-quality education platform that combines a rich variety of courses with an enjoyable learning experience, completely free and open to everyone.

The collaboration between KIP Protocol and Open Campus aligns perfectly with CZ’s vision for education: using AI and blockchain to provide diverse, engaging educational services to a broad audience. As one of the few projects launched on Binance Launchpad and part of the BNB Chain ecosystem, Open Campus has received strong support from Binance. Combined with Open Campus’s capabilities, it is expected to quickly increase its market share in the education field.

Looking at the future of the KIP Protocol and Open Campus collaboration, it not only brings solid industry knowledge education to the entire Web3 industry but also provides KIP Protocol with stronger traffic influx and deeper resource cooperation, leveraging Open Campus’s development potential and resources.

Of course, the collaboration with Open Campus is a landmark event in the early development of the KIP Protocol ecosystem. With solid technical foundations, an impressive team background, and rich industry resources, KIP Protocol is steadily advancing toward its vision of being a “Web3 underlying protocol focused on AI.”

A Rising Star in the AI Infrastructure Sector: Praised by Top VCs Globally

In the Web3 industry, institutions act as market trend leaders, and KOLs serve as indicators of industry popularity. Whether internationally or domestically, whether on online Web3 community platforms like Twitter, Telegram, or offline Web3 events in Hong Kong and TOKEN2049 in Dubai, KIP Protocol has become a well-known and highly regarded Alpha project among top KOLs and crypto VCs.

James Ho, head of Animoca Ventures, had an in-depth conversation with KIP Protocol’s CEO and co-founder Julian and core member Jen during TOKEN2049 in Dubai and expressed his admiration for the project:

“DeAI is one of the most important stories of this cycle. Animoca Ventures has been closely following DeAI since 2022 and started collaborating with senior AI teams… We were impressed by using the KIP Protocol RAG framework for investment data analysis because we didn’t have to train our models but were still able to use AI for data analysis… We recognize KIP’s approach of achieving AI asset ownership and tokenization for everyone could become a force multiplier for the development of many enterprises in a wider range of fields.”

Additionally, well-known BTC investment KOL Marco Johanning, AI-focused crypto KOLs like AI Project Hub, overseas crypto influencers like Crypto Phoenix, Twitter crypto KOL @wauwda, and well-known crypto blogger Tomb have all discussed KIP Protocol on social media platforms. Many have praised KIP, with some even stating their participation in KIP’s early financing.

The overwhelming praise is due to a team of elite members composed of experienced AI experts and technical specialists. The core members of the KIP Protocol team come from world-renowned universities and have over 10 years of rich experience in AI development, project consulting, Web3 investment, and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr Jennifer Dodgson, the Chief AI Officer of the KIP Protocol team, is a PhD in Qualitative Analysis, Policy, and Statistics from the National University of Singapore and an expert in Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology. She has 10 years of experience consulting on NLP/AI projects for governments, enterprises, and large organizations. At KIP Protocol, Jennifer leads a group of top AI talents to explore the implementation and development of DeAI. Additionally, Jennifer has a strong interest in Web3 entrepreneurship, having founded the game DAO DAObi.

Julian Peh, CEO and co-founder of the KIP Protocol team, is a seasoned entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in tech innovation. He has successfully founded four companies, accumulating extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions. Julian encountered blockchain in the early days of the crypto industry in 2016 and has been a partner in crypto funds for many years, possessing rich experience and unique insights into industry knowledge and project operations.

The precise market demand control and high-quality product presentation demonstrated by the strong project team have garnered unanimous praise from crypto KOLs and achieved impressive results for KIP Protocol in community building, fundraising, and partnerships.

In the community, KIP Protocol’s Twitter followers surpassed 100,000 in April, currently growing to 127,000, marking an important milestone for KIP. Its Discord and Telegram communities are also expanding rapidly.

In terms of fundraising, KIP Protocol completed its strategic round of financing in March this year, led by Animoca Ventures, and attracted investments from institutions including B.Army, CSP DAO, MQdao, Spicy Capital, Skyvision Capital, and Purechain Capital, covering regions in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

KIP Protocol has frequently announced new partnerships recently: aside from the aforementioned Open Campus, on May 4th, KIP Protocol announced a strategic partnership with Aethir. As Aethir’s preferred deployment partner, KIP Protocol will provide key data and payment infrastructure for Aethir’s AI ecosystem, while Aethir will provide enterprise-level decentralized GPU computing power for KIP’s AI product ecosystem. The two will integrate their robust infrastructures to build a strong decentralized AI ecosystem. On May 8th, KIP Protocol announced a partnership with OKX Wallet, a leader in decentralized digital wallet technology, to seamlessly integrate the emerging decentralized AI and Web3 worlds, enhancing the usability and accessibility of both platforms.

KIP Protocol’s partners also include SFT Labs, PORT3 Network, Devolved AI, KPR, zkPass, Particle Network, MoleDAO, TinTinLand, Mirror World, and others, showcasing the initial scale of its ecosystem.

Throughout the first quarter of 2024, KIP Protocol’s growth has been evident, and with the successful conclusion of the Genesis NFT Free Mint and the implementation of multiple milestones, KIP Protocol is expected to maintain a rapid growth trajectory in the foreseeable future.

Looking Ahead: Genesis NFT Ignites Community Enthusiasm, Participating to Win Airdrops and More Ecosystem Benefits

On April 29, KIP Protocol completed the minting of its Genesis NFTs in two phases. The first phase was for community OGs and strategic business partners, distributing 1,788 NFTs. The second phase was open to participants in GALXE and TASKON activities, distributing 2,100 NFTs. The community showed unprecedented enthusiasm, and all 3,888 Genesis NFTs sold out, with the second phase selling out in just 4 minutes. After the minting ended, KIP Protocol airdropped KIP SBT rewards to community members who actively participated in the first season of Genesis activities and community tasks.

Genesis NFT holders will enjoy multiple benefits, including airdrops, priority access to AI tools, whitelist spots for KIP projects, and access to incubated projects. Over 148,000 users participated in previous activities, earning points and qualifying for the free minting of Genesis NFTs.

Like many projects that have not yet conducted token TGE, KIP’s ecosystem incentives are mostly in the form of points, which may be closely linked to future token airdrops, rewarding early supporters. According to the white paper, the ecosystem fund accounts for 35.8% of the total 10 billion KIP tokens, showing the project’s commitment to the community and long-term development. For those looking to invest in the AI sector, although Season 1 community activities have ended, the KIP Protocol team has announced that Season 2 is coming soon with more community interaction activities. Keeping an eye on KIP Protocol’s social media updates and actively participating to earn points and accumulate airdrop chances is a good opportunity to invest in quality AI projects.

For the upcoming 2024 work plan and roadmap, the KIP Protocol has clear plans:

In terms of product functionality, the team will focus on participating in a broader AI/ML ecosystem, building cross-chain bridges to enhance interoperability, and launching KIP Starter to promote quality assets. The team will also focus on the AI application chain field, with testnet activities possibly launching in 2025.

In terms of ecosystem building, the team will expand its partner and project ecosystem, seek to list tokens on global strategic exchanges and build a large community of global users, token holders, and developers, ensuring the project remains at the forefront of decentralized AI innovation.

Conclusion

The Crypto Theses for 2024 report by the renowned crypto analysis firm Messari expressed strong support for the integration of AI and Web3. As one of the hottest narratives of 2024, the AI sector is always bustling with entrepreneurs and investors. For project teams, standing out with a differentiated narrative requires strong product and operational capabilities.

From a product perspective, KIP Protocol, as the world’s first protocol supporting decentralized RAG, allows AI models to provide superior services by retrieving data from external knowledge bases and databases. Decentralized RAG also enhances data privacy, attracting a broader range of data samples for AI development.

From a user perspective, KIP Protocol introduces SFT, emphasizing ownership of AI models, algorithms, and datasets, and unlocking the trading and investment potential of AI assets. This allows small AI creators to participate in AI development, disrupting the monopolies of giants and creating fair and transparent value distribution. This solution not only realizes the fair and transparent circulation of AI value but also adds more possibilities to the future of AIFi.

Outstanding technical capabilities, rigorous product logic, a rapidly growing community, and the project’s relentless pursuit of DeAI may explain why KIP Protocol is highly praised by crypto KOLs and VCs. With the successful conclusion of the Genesis NFT minting and the achievement of multiple milestones, we look forward to the project’s future performance.

Disclaimer:

1. This article is reposted from [techflowpost], originally titled “Rising Star in AI Infrastructure: KIP Protocol – Unlocking and Efficiently Circulating AI Asset Value,” with the copyright belonging to the original author [深潮 TechFlowr]. If you have any objections to the repost, please contact the Gate Learn team, and the team will handle it promptly according to the relevant procedures.

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