Austin Barack: My AI Bull Thesis (...And What I'm Holding)
Austin Barack: My AI Bull Thesis (...And What I'm Holding)
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Note: AI-generated summary based on third-party content. Not financial advice. Read more.
Quick Insights

Consider purchasing DEEM at current levels near $1,800, as its $365 annual utility value suggests a price target of ~$3,650 if it re-rates to a standard corporate bond yield. The VVD token is also positioned for growth, as the platform’s 20% month-over-month user expansion makes its $1.5B–$2B valuation appear significantly undervalued. GRASS offers a high-conviction opportunity at just 5x–8x revenue; watch for a potential price re-rating following an upcoming token holder call expected within the next month. For infrastructure exposure, NEAR is a top pick for its essential role in powering AI agents and cross-chain "intents," while AERO remains a strong fundamental play as its revenue generation now outpaces token emissions. Finally, focus capital on "net-positive" assets like HYPE where platform buy-backs exceed market sell pressure, or ZEC for long-term privacy-focused diversification.

Detailed Analysis

Venice (VVD / DEEM)

• Venice is a private AI consumer product that allows users to access various Large Language Models (LLMs) without sacrificing data privacy. • User Growth: Recently hit 3 million users, growing from 1.5 million in just a few months. • Revenue Model: Generates revenue through "Pro" and "Premium" subscriptions ($18–$68+/month) and additional credit purchases. • Tokenomics (VVD): Protocol revenue is used to burn VVD. Users can stake VVD to earn free memberships or to mint DEEM. • Tokenomics (DEEM): A "perpetuity" token where 1 DEEM provides $1 per day of compute/inference on the platform. It is a "use it or lose it" model (does not accrue). - Currently capped around 38,000 DEEM. - Estimated annual cost to the company is ~$3.5M, which is easily covered by subscription revenue.

Takeaways

Undervaluation: The analyst believes VVD is undervalued at a $1.5B–$2B valuation given its 20% month-over-month growth and 15x increase in token usage. • Yield Opportunity: DEEM was recently valued at a 20% discount rate (trading around $1,800 for $365/year of value). The analyst suggests it should trade closer to a corporate bond yield (8-12%), implying a price target of ~$3,650. • Product-Market Fit: Unlike many crypto projects, Venice "owns the customer" and provides a daily-use utility that doesn't require users to understand the underlying token to find value.


Grass (GRASS)

• Grass acts as a data layer for AI, collecting and selling high-quality, specialized datasets to frontier AI labs for model training. • Financials: Currently at approximately $50M - $80M Annualized Revenue (ARR) with triple-digit growth. • Market Position: Beneficiary of the massive spend by AI labs that are desperate for clean data to train new models.

Takeaways

Multiple Re-rating: Currently valued at roughly $400M (~5x–8x revenue). The analyst considers this "dirt cheap" compared to other crypto assets trading at 20x–50x revenue despite slower growth. • Upcoming Catalyst: A token holder call is expected in the next month, which may provide more transparency on revenue and growth.


Near Protocol (NEAR)

• While an L1 blockchain, NEAR is increasingly positioned as the infrastructure for "AI Agents" and cross-chain activity. • Key Feature: "Near Intents" allows for seamless cross-chain swaps, which is a critical dependency for AI agents operating autonomously across different blockchains.

Takeaways

The "Role Player" Thesis: The analyst compares NEAR to a high-level NBA role player—it may not be the "LeBron James" (Bitcoin), but it is essential because it is "crushing it" in its specific niche of intents and confidential AI usage.


Aerodrome (AERO)

• A liquidity engine on the Base network that uses a "Vote-Escrow" (ve) model. • Revenue vs. Emissions: The analyst argues that AERO is misunderstood; it generates more revenue for token holders than it releases in emissions (inflation), making it net-positive.

Takeaways

Fundamental Shift: Investors should look at AERO as a real business. The upcoming "S-AERO" rebrand and expansion to Ethereum mainnet are key developments to watch.


Hyperliquid (HYPE)

• A decentralized exchange (DEX) that has popularized the "Buy and Burn" model. • Context: The analyst warns that "Buy and Burn" only works because Hyperliquid is a "great business."

Takeaways

Flows over Hype: The token performs well because the actual buying pressure from the platform's success outweighs the monthly unlocks.


Investment Themes & Sector Insights

The AI Stack

Investors should look at the following sub-sectors within the "AI Super Cycle": • Privacy/Uncensored LLMs: (e.g., Venice) • Data Collection: (e.g., Grass) • Inference & Compute Marketplaces: (e.g., Akash, Ansi) • Decentralized Training: (e.g., Pluralis, Prime Intellect)

New Token Evaluation Framework

The "Credit/Debit" Model: Move away from "euphoric dreams" and focus on net token value flows. • Key Question: Does the value of revenue generated and burned/distributed exceed the value of tokens being sold on the open market? • Concentration: Capital is currently concentrating into a small subset (10–20 tokens) that have real revenue and product-market fit.

Privacy Assets

Zcash (ZEC): Mentioned as a "buy and hold" asset for those who believe in the original Bitcoin ethos of privacy, especially as Bitcoin becomes more institutionalized.

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Episode Description
Austin Barack joins us for this episode of AI Supercycle to cover how exactly the AI privacy stack is undervalued. Austin Barack is Founder of Relayer Capital, an AI-focused digital assets fund. The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world. Timestamps 00:00 Venice Grass NEAR AI Thesis Intro 01:30 Venice Privacy Overview 02:03 AI Uses 100x More Data 05:14 Three Million Users 05:14 VVE And DM Token Flywheel 08:48 DM Priced Like A Corporate Bond 09:35 $20 Venice Undervalued 11:45 How Grass Makes Money 12:35 Grass Triple Digit Growth 14:16 Grass At $400M Too Cheap 14:49 NEAR Cross-Chain Swap 17:43 Akash GPU Marketplace Update 19:36 AI Stack Breakdown 21:10 Net Token Value Flows Framework 22:11 Buy And Burn Only Works Sometimes 25:56 Two Cohorts In Digital Assets Now Guest Socials: Austin Barack X: https://x.com/AustinBarack Relayer Capital X: https://x.com/RelayerCapital Relayer Capital Website: https://relayer.capital/ Partners: Better than Banks. Transparent capital efficiency earning the highest yields in DeFi. Learn more here: https://infinifi.xyz/ --- APYX - Enhanced Digital Credit Yield, Onchain | On Track to Become the Largest Holder of STRC. https://apyx.fi/ --- Dinari - Over 230 1:1 backed tokenized stocks, ETFs & more with dividends. US-based SEC transfer agent. Available on 5+ chains & via API. https://dinari.com/ --- Relay is the fastest and most reliable way to swap any token on any chain. Learn more here: https://relay.link/bridge --- Zama is an open source cryptography company that builds state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain. Learn more here: https://www.zama.org/ --- Trezor is the creator of the first-ever hardware wallet. Securing crypto for 2M+ users worldwide. 100% open source. Learn more here: https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_id=133&aff_id=36664 --- 𝗪𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀: Website: https://therollup.co/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd... Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast Follow us on X: https://www.x.com/therollupco Follow Rob on X: https://x.com/robbieklages Follow Andy on X: https://x.com/andyyy Join our TG group: https://t.me/+TsM1CRpWFgk1NGZh The Rollup Disclosures: https://goodidea.ventures 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥: 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘍𝘪 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.
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