AI Tokens Split from Crypto; Up 6% While the Market Drops 21% in Q1

For the past five years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) tokens have been a high-beta version of the crypto market, massively outperforming during bull runs and plunging sharply in bear markets. However, that trend has shifted in 2026, with AI tokens splitting from the broader crypto market for the first time.

According to the TechGaged research, the combined market cap of the most valuable AI tokens rose by 6% in Q1, while the broader crypto market dropped by 21%.

AI Tokens Show a 27-Point Gap vs the Crypto Market and 24-Point Gap vs Meme Coins

AI tokens have had a pretty turbulent few years. After solid double-digit growth in 2023 and a huge surge in 2024, they finished 2025 in the red, much like they did back in 2022. Over those twelve months, their combined market cap plunged by more than $33 billion, marking an eye-watering 66% drop in a single year.

And while such deep market swings are pretty common for risk-on, hype-driven sectors, the first three months of 2026 have shown that, for the first time, AI tokens are not following the broader crypto market. This means not only that the sector is maturing and becoming less hype-driven but also beginning to form its own space within crypto.

The TechGaged research team analyzed AI tokens` Q1 performance over the past four years and compared it to the broader crypto market, and the findings support this new trend.

During the first three months of 2022, the crypto market cap dropped by 13%, while AI tokens dipped even more, falling by 23% over the same period. This was a classic risk-on sector getting hit first.

A year later, in Q1 2023, AI tokens exploded by 292%, fueled by AI hype entering crypto, and outperformed the broader market by nearly six times. In comparison, the total crypto market cap jumped by 46% during the same quarter.

CoinMarketCap data show that Q1 2024 was still strong, but closing the gap. During those three months, AI tokens jumped by 81% while the broader market rose 63%, pointing to normalization after a hype spike.

During Q1 2025, corrections hit the AI crypto sector pretty hard, with tokens losing 46% of total market cap, or 2.5 times more than the broader market.

And while the crypto market continued to underperform in Q1 2026, following a Q4 downturn with another 21% drop, AI tokens held steady. While their three-month gains are only a glimpse of the figures recorded on other rising Q1s, they still closed the first three months with a solid 6% growth, marking a 27-point performance gap compared to the broader market.

This split becomes even more obvious when compared to speculative meme coins, which dropped by 18% over the same period, suggesting a clear shift in where capital is flowing in crypto.

Six of the Top 10 AI Tokens Posted Double-, Triple-, and Four-Digit Gains in Q1

The price movements of the ten largest AI tokens by market cap show where this increase came from. While the ten coins showed mixed performance, with four recording double-digit losses, the six tokens that ended the quarter in the green posted quite impressive gains.

Four major AI tokens, including Bittensor, Render, Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, and Kite, saw double-digit gains ranging from 15% to 95%. DeXe ended Q1 with a triple-digit gain, with its price surging by 157%, while Siren ranked as the absolute winner, posting a massive four-digit gain and rising by nearly 6,000% over the past three months.