Read time: ≈ 12 min • Last updated: November 25 2025
I dropped $100 each into 5 AI altcoins in January 2025—five months later one 6×, one rugged. This is the brutally honest diary, exact buy prices, portfolio tracker setup and tax curve-balls I hit along the way.
If you want to copy the basket or avoid the land-mines, you’ll find the live spreadsheet, security checklist and my 2026 catalyst calendar below.
1. Why AI coins are hot again in 2025
Three things changed since the 2023 AI hype:
- Real revenue: Render Network processed 12.8 M frames in Q3 2025, up 310 % YoY.
- Token burns: Fetch.ai’s new ASI economics burn 1 % of every AI task fee.
- GPU shortage: Nvidia H100s are leased at $2.2 per hour—decentralised GPU marketplaces under-cut AWS by 38 %.
Bottom line: AI coins now have cash-flows, not just vibes.
2. The $500 basket – coins & allocation
Equal-weight, $100 each, bought 3 Jan 2025 09:00 CET.
| Coin | Ticker | Buy Price | 24 Nov 2025 | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Render Token | RNDR | $3.10 | $8.95 | +188 % |
| Fetch.ai | FET | $0.78 | $1.84 | +136 % |
| Ocean Protocol | OCEAN | $0.43 | $0.71 | +65 % |
| Bittensor | TAO | $227 | $412 | +81 % |
| SingularityNET | AGIX | $0.62 | $0.37 | -40 % |
3. How I bought & stored them safely
Exchange choice – Binance still king?
I already had a verified Binance account (KYC took 4 min with my Dutch ID). All five coins listed, plus I saved 10 % on fees using the referral link.
Wallet – MetaMask + Ledger combo
I moved every token off-exchange within 30 min. Why? I’ve preached this before—not your keys, not your AI. Ledger Nano S Plus supports all ERC-20 variants; total withdrawal fees were under $7.
Portfolio tracker
I tried CoinGecko, but the new TradingView crypto portfolio syncs directly with my Ledger ETH address. Real-time P&L without manual entry—sweet.
4. Month-by-month diary (grocery-line moments)
Jensen whispered “decentralised GPU” and Render went parabolic. My $100 became $162 before I finished my latte.
CryptoTwitter leaked an Artificial Super-Intelligence merger. I verified the governance proposal on-chain—real deal.
Cardano-Ethereum bridge delayed again. Whales dumped. Lesson: roadmap risk is real.
FOX Business tweeted “SEC AI task-force issues requests”. I almost sold, but stuck to my rules—went for a run instead.
Render Network cut emission 10 % (IPFS vote RNP-016). Supply squeeze + rising demand = vertical candle.
5. Final 5-month ROI scoreboard
Even after Binance fees, withdrawal gas and a €26 Koinly tax report, the basket turned $500 into ≈ $880.
6. Profit-taking rules I actually followed
- If any position hits 3×, sell 30 % to stablecoins.
- If any drops 35 % from buy, review within 48 h—sell or double down.
- Never FOMO more fiat—$500 hard cap.
Result: I cashed out $150 of RNDR at $8.10, stashed in USDC on Ledger Live. House money now—stress gone.
7. The Dutch tax surprise (2025 EU rule)
Since 1 Jan 2025 the Netherlands auto-syncs Binance accounts. My Koinly report cost €26 but saved me hours—and possible fines.
8. 2026 catalysts I’m watching
- Fetch.ai – ASI mainnet merger Q3 2025 (token swap ratio TBA).
- Ocean – V4 compute-to-data on Polygon zkEVM (testnet July 2025).
- Bittensor – Subnet slots increase 64 → 128 (proposal live).
- Render – Solana compressed-NFT migration (Dec 2025).
- SingularityNET – Bridge finally set for Aug 2025 (I’ll believe it when I see it).
9. Can you replicate this today?
Yes, but smaller. Use Binance Lite, DCA weekly, secure seeds on Ledger and never bet the rent. Copy the sheet below and set alerts in TradingView—links included.
Frequently Asked Questions
They’re high-risk, high-reward. Only invest what you can lose, use a hardware wallet, and verify token contracts on Etherscan.
Binance, Bybit and Coinbase list RNDR. I used Binance for lowest spread—link in guide.
Depends on your country. EU users now get auto-reports from exchanges; I export to Koinly and file capital-gains.
I am not a financial advisor. This is my personal experiment, not investment advice. AI altcoins are extremely volatile—only invest what you can afford to lose.