Something is brewing where data, money, and tech collide. Call it “Info-Fi,” or Information Finance. This corner of the crypto world operates on a wild premise – What if pure information could be an asset you can trade and monetize? Using AI and blockchain, Info-Fi is starting to rewire how we approach finance in a world swimming in data.
While people have always known that good information is key to making money, the “Info-Fi” label is a newer crypto-native creation. Ethereum’s own Vitalik Buterin pushed the idea forward, suggesting that prediction markets aren’t just for gambling on outcomes. He saw them as engines for generating valuable, verifiable truth.
At the time, he said,
“Predicting the election is just the first app. The broader concept is that you can use finance as a way to align incentives in order to provide viewers with valuable information. To me, info finance is that, but correct by construction. Similar to the concept of correct-by-construction in software engineering, info finance is a discipline where you (i) start from a fact that you want to know, and then (ii) deliberately design a market to optimally elicit that information from market participants.”
When decentralized platforms like Polymarket nailed forecasts like the U.S Presidential Election, it was clear this wasn’t just theory anymore.
That success opened the floodgates for projects that package crypto knowledge into something that generates influence and cold, hard cash. Here, your content becomes your capital. Your engagement pays a dividend. This flips the script on older crypto models like mining or yield farming, which demand powerful computers or deep pockets.
In Info-Fi, all you need is a keyboard, a social media account, and an audience that listens.
What makes Info-Fi tick?
At its heart, Info-Fi sees information differently. It’s not just a tool for making financial choices; it’s the actual product being bought and sold. This could be anything from Twitter chatter to the patterns of transactions on a blockchain.
This new field also tackles the “attention economy.” In our digital world, your attention is a resource, and Info-Fi wants to build a fairer system where the people creating valuable content see the profits, not just the centralized platforms they use. It directly connects eyeballs to capital, making quality and influence profitable skills.
Blockchain is the bedrock for all of this. Its transparent nature means you can trace where information comes from and who uses it, creating a more level playing field. Meanwhile, AI acts as the engine, sifting through mountains of data to spot trends, measure fuzzy concepts like “mindshare,” and deliver insights that guide financial moves.
A huge goal here, especially for prediction markets, is to pay people for being right. By rewarding accurate predictions, the system naturally encourages sharp analysis and weeds out the noise.
Three projects making waves in Information Finance
As Info-Fi begins to find its footing, a few key players are defining the space. Looking at their market size, tech, and community, three names are leading the pack – Kaito, Ocean Protocol, and Bubblemaps.
Kaito – The AI brain for crypto intelligence
Kaito has muscled its way to the front of the Info-Fi scene with a platform that acts like a supercharged search engine for the crypto universe. It tackles the chaos of information overload by pulling together and making sense of countless data streams, both on and off the blockchain.
Market Snapshot – As of mid-2025, Kaito boasts a market cap of around $320.39 million, with over 241 million KAITO tokens in circulation. Its fully diluted valuation sits at a hefty $1.63 billion, signaling that investors are betting big on its future.
The Tech – Kaito’s real magic is how it uses natural language processing and AI agents to turn scattered bits of information into clear, useful intelligence. Its standout “Yaps” program is a perfect example, creating a marketplace for crypto alpha by rewarding users who share sharp insights on platforms like X (formerly Twitter).
Token Ecosystem – The KAITO token is the lifeblood of the platform, handling governance, network fees, and rewards. Out of a total 1 billion tokens, a large chunk is set aside to fuel ecosystem growth and incentivize its community.
Source: KAITO/USD, TradingView
At press time, KAITO was down almost 30% in just over a week. While this corresponded with the larger market’s downturn, its losses have been way more significant.
The MA being found above the price candles and the RSI falling towards the oversold zone highlighted the crypto’s bearishness across the board.
Ocean Protocol – Decentralized data bazaar
Ocean Protocol is carving out its space by building a platform where people and companies can sell their data without giving up privacy or control. It aims to smash open the data silos that hold back research and AI development, making valuable information more accessible to everyone.
Market Snapshot – Over 200 million OCEAN tokens are currently circulating, from a total possible supply of 1.41 billion.
The Tech – Ocean’s system creates a decentralized data marketplace using “data NFTs” and “datatokens.” In plain English, this lets owners wrap their datasets in a digital contract, allowing others to buy access while the data itself remains secure. Prices are set by simple supply and demand, all managed on-chain.
Token Ecosystem – The OCEAN token is used for platform governance and for staking on specific data services to signal their quality. The project is playing the long game with its tokenomics, holding back a large portion of the supply to be released as block rewards over many years to encourage continuous data sharing.
As far as the OCEAN token is concerned, it has been struggling lately. At the time of writing, it was down almost 20% on the price charts. The positioning of its Moving Average and MACD line attested to the market’s bearishness.
Source: OCEAN/USD, TradingView
Bubblemaps – Making on-chain data visible
Market Snapshot – Bubblemaps holds a market cap of about $31.98 million, with over 373 million BMT tokens currently in circulation.
The Tech – The platform’s genius lies in making dense on-chain information easy for anyone to understand and act on. Its bubble visuals instantly show things like wallet clustering (a sign of potential manipulation) and how tokens are moving between different groups. An upcoming “Intel Desk” feature promises to lean even harder into community-driven investigations.
Token Ecosystem – The BMT token is key to using Bubblemaps, unlocking premium features and powering the Intel Desk. With a total supply of 1 billion tokens, the project has dedicated portions to airdrops, ecosystem building, and ensuring healthy liquidity.
What’s next for Info-Fi?
Info-Fi is more than a passing trend; it’s a high-stakes bet on the future of the knowledge economy. However, the road ahead is tricky. The same tools that reward truth can be twisted to manipulate markets. New platforms will face the classic crypto hurdles of scaling their technology and navigating a world with few clear regulations.
Ultimately, Info-Fi’s success will hinge on whether it can build platforms that are not just powerful, but also trustworthy and secure enough to deliver on the promise of a world where knowledge itself is the ultimate currency.
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