Author: 律动
The "VVV" concept, up 9x in six months, is the new AI theme in the Base ecosystem
Undoubtedly, the main focus of the recent Base ecosystem has been AI. But to be more specific, it’s “VVV”.
Before introducing tokens related to the concept of "VVV," let’s first understand what "VVV" actually is.
What is the "VVV" concept?
$VVV is the token of Venice, a privacy-focused, uncensored generative AI platform on the Base ecosystem led by Erik Voorhees.
Erik is an early OG in cryptocurrency, having entered the space in 2011 and playing a key role in Bitcoin’s early adoption. After the Mt. Gox collapse, he founded ShapeShift, one of the first exchanges to emphasize non-custodial services and privacy. His expertise in decentralized finance and user sovereignty has made him a strong advocate for permissionless AI.
According to the user count chart for the Venice API disclosed by Erik Voorhees in March this year, the number of Venice API users grew from nearly 0 to 15,000 throughout 2025.
However, the price performance of $VVV has been lackluster, with occasional rebounds reaching at most a $200 million market cap and dropping as low as under $45 million, far from its peak of $1 billion shortly after launch.
At the same time, it can be seen that the number of Venice API users experienced rapid growth entering 2026, which can be attributed to the popularity of OpenClaw. Due to its focus on privacy, Venice was prominently recommended in the model provider section of OpenClaw’s official documentation.
Although the featured recommendation was later removed, 2026 was a year of rapid growth for Venice. According to data disclosed by Erik Voorhees, by March of this year, Venice had over 2 million total users, 55,000 paid subscribers, monthly revenue of $835,000, and a monthly growth rate of 15%.
Correspondingly, $VVV has experienced sustained growth. Since the beginning of 2026, $VVV has risen more than 9 times.
$VVV/$DIEM
Previously, we discussed Venice's growth in exposure and user base this year, which represents a macro-level explanation for its rise. However, as a cryptocurrency AI project with a token, its price increase is also closely tied to the token's underlying mechanics.
Since the beginning of this year, the annual emission of $VVV has been reduced multiple times, decreasing from 8 million per year to 5 million. By July 1, the annual emission will be further reduced to 3 million. The official stated that the goal is to achieve net deflation for $VVV, ensuring that the amount burned exceeds the amount emitted, thereby securing $VVV’s native yield.
The initial total supply of $VVV is 100 million tokens, with a current total supply of approximately 79.9 million tokens. Currently, 42.22% (approximately 33.73 million tokens) of the circulating supply has been burned.
The burn of $VVV is tied to Venice’s subscription revenue. At the end of April, Venice will allocate a larger portion of subscription revenue toward token buybacks: for every new Pro subscription ($18), $2 will be used to buy back and burn $VVV. For Pro+ ($68) and Max ($200) subscriptions, $5 and $10 will be allocated respectively for buyback and burn.
The current circulating supply is approximately 46 million tokens. Additionally, around 8.85 million tokens are still locked, and approximately 32.47 million tokens are staked.
Interestingly, the token utility of $VVV offers a compelling solution compared to the awkward situation past crypto projects faced, where token rights were rendered meaningless in the face of equity.
By staking $VVV on a continuously controlled token supply, you can earn additional $VVV, receive increased rewards from emission reductions, and gain the right to mint $DIEM using your staked $sVVV tokens.
$DIEM can be either traded or staked. Each $DIEM staked provides 1 USD worth of Venice API credit per day.
This credit limit is updated daily; if you use it all today, it will be replenished tomorrow and remains valid indefinitely. One dollar’s worth of Venice API credit can do quite a bit—here’s what Venice itself says:
Stake 1 $DIEM to use Venice for the above tasks for free every day.
However, considering that the price of one $DIEM has skyrocketed to $1,500, minting one $DIEM requires approximately 756 $sVVV, costing around $12,800. Whether it’s worthwhile, Venice’s own calculation is as follows:
Overall, the economic structure of $VVV/$DIEM, combined with Venice's regulatory mechanisms, gives $VVV a genuine "tech stock" feel, while still retaining its own crypto-native characteristics:
- Reduced supply-side emissions help prevent excessive dilution of the token's value (and also protect $VVV dividends for stakers).
Subscription revenue is used to repurchase tokens.
Staked $VVV can be used to mint $DIME, enabling the token to serve a practical function within the product through $DIME.
- However, there is a cost to realizing practical benefits: $VVV minted as $DIME can only receive 80% of the dividends ($VVV staking rewards).
- You can perform DeFi operations on-chain, such as staking $VVV to earn $DIEM, then selling $DIEM to buy more $VVV. There are even community projects like @cheaptokensAI that allow you to profit by transferring the daily $DIEM allocation without selling it.
$POD
Since May, $POD has risen over 12 times its peak, with its market cap increasing from approximately $7.8 million to over $100 million.
$POD is the token for Dolphin's distributed AI inference and training network. Simply put, it allows users to “mine” by contributing idle GPU power to those needing AI computing services, earning $POD rewards in return.
But the reason $POD has been hyped is not the network itself, but Dolphin’s other business—AI models. Venice’s current default model, Venice Uncensored 1.2, was jointly developed by Dolphin and Venice, and evolved from Dolphin Mistral 24B Venice Edition.
Therefore, although $POD serves solely as the token for Dolphin’s distributed AI inference and training network, it is currently being heavily speculated upon as the only investment vehicle for Dolphin.
$cyb3rwr3n
This project claims to create an auction market for Venice credit lines based on USDC. However, it is more widely associated with the "VVV" concept because some analysts have linked on-chain activity with tweets, suggesting a strong connection to Venice’s founder, Erik Voorhees.
The official Venice Twitter account has clarified that cyb3rwr3n is not an official Venice project.
After this news was released last month, it triggered a roughly 50% drop in coin prices, but it recently reached a new all-time high. The official clarification did not fully dispel market speculation; according to discussions among some users, Erik Voorhees was the first follower of the cyb3rwr3n official Twitter account, and other Venice team members—including co-founder @TeanaTaylor, CTO @jesseproudman, and product lead @willyogo—also follow this account. They believe that even if Venice has no actual connection to the project, this interaction conveys significant support.
This is indeed one of the cheaper coins related to the "VVV" concept right now, with only a $4 million market cap. But there's a reason it's cheap—its product hasn't been released yet, and it's still essentially just a meme coin.
$SR
STRIKEROBOT.AI is a full-stack embodied intelligence platform building humanoid robot frameworks for physical AI business process outsourcing (BPO), focused on safety in hazardous environments such as nuclear power plants, high-voltage facilities, and radiation zones.
They have a robot training and simulation platform called SR Platform, and $SR is the token of this platform. The project's connection to Venice was announced on May 7, when they revealed a collaboration with Venice to co-develop a VLM inference layer designed for robots, along with receiving funding support from Venice.
Since the beginning of May, $SR has increased by approximately 4 times, with a current market cap of around $9 million.
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