Crypto + AI Is Exploding — But What’s Real vs Hype? Top VCs Spill All.

What’s real in the fast-evolving intersection of crypto and AI, and what’s just noise? In this episode of The People’s AI, presented by Vana, host Jeff Wilser speaks with two leading voices shaping the Decentralized AI landscape: Alex Odagiu, Investment Director at YZI Labs, and Daniel Barabander, GC and Investment Partner at Variant Fund. Together, they offer rare insider insight into how VCs are evaluating Crypto AI startups, the emerging AI agent economy, and the practical use cases gaining real traction. Alex explores what it’s like to be pitched dozens of AI + Web3 projects every week, what verticals excite him most, and how he’s using AI tools in VC investing. Daniel expands the lens further, offering a compelling argument for why the modular, composable AI ecosystem—built on crypto incentives and data sovereignty—may ultimately win over the centralized, monolithic models dominating today. Topics covered include: • The rise of on-chain AI agents • Why composability in AI may be the key to scaling intelligence • How crypto solves the AI bootstrapping problem • The future of user-owned data and Data DAOs • Long-term predictions about AI startups, open-source LLMs, and the implications of sovereign AI Recorded live during Consensus 2025, this episode captures a crucial snapshot of where the Decentralized AI movement is headed next. Daniel Barabander: https://x.com/dbarabander Alex Odagiu: https://x.com/odagius And a big thanks to our partner, Vana, whose mission is to enable user-owned AI through user-owned data. Vana recently announced a collaboration with Flower Labs to build the world’s first user-owned foundation model. About Vana's collaboration with Flower: https://www.vana.org/posts/vana-flower-labs-partnership About Vana: https://linktr.ee/vanahq Vana on Twitter/X: https://x.com/vana Vana ecosystem: vana.com Subscribe to The People's AI on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLiYlJulQIcmvCjnVRYotw Jeff Wilser on Twitter/X: https://x.com/jeffwilser