Ocean Leaves ASI Alliance to Secure Independent Tokenomics

Ocean Protocol Foundation has abruptly exited the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance, a collaborative initiative it co-founded with Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and CUDOS in March 2024. The alliance aimed to unify AI-focused blockchain ecosystems under a shared tokenomics framework, consolidating the OCEAN, AGIX, and CUDOS tokens into Fetch.ai's FET token, later rebranded as ASI. Ocean's withdrawal, effective immediately, marks a significant shift in its strategy, with the foundation citing the need to secure independent tokenomics and enable supply-reducing mechanisms for OCEAN.

The ASI Alliance had sought to align token economics and infrastructure for decentralized AI development, with voluntary token conversions and governance independence retained by member projects. By July 2024, approximately 81% of OCEAN had been converted to FET, leaving around 270 million OCEAN unconverted across 37,334 addresses. Ocean's blog post emphasized that its departure would allow OCEAN to be de-pegged from FET and re-listed separately on exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance US. The Fetch.ai-managed bridge remains open for conversions at a rate of 0.433226 FET per OCEAN, though unconverted tokens continue to trade independently.

The decision underscores Ocean's pivot toward self-sustaining tokenomics. The foundation stated that future profits from spin-outs of Ocean-derived technologies will fund OCEAN buybacks and burns, creating a perpetual supply reduction mechanism. This aligns with broader trends in crypto tokenomics, where projects increasingly prioritize deflationary strategies to enhance scarcity and investor confidence. As of October 2025, Ocean noted that exchanges are evaluating relisting OCEAN, which remains available on platforms like Uniswap and SushiSwap.

The ASI Alliance and Fetch.ai responded to the exit with measured optimism, emphasizing that Ocean's departure would not disrupt core technology stacks or development momentum. Fetch.ai reiterated the alliance's voluntary nature, stating that its mission to advance decentralized AI infrastructure remains unchanged. Meanwhile, the ASI token (FET) experienced a 3.8% price decline following the announcement, according to The Block's tracking data, reflecting market uncertainty around the alliance's future cohesion.

Ocean's exit highlights the challenges of balancing collaborative innovation with individual token governance in blockchain ecosystems. While the alliance initially pooled resources to amplify decentralized AI infrastructure, diverging priorities on tokenomics and supply management ultimately fractured the partnership. Ocean's focus on independent buybacks and supply reduction contrasts with the ASI Alliance's unified approach, illustrating the trade-offs between collective alignment and project autonomy.

The move also aligns with a broader 2025 trend of crypto projects adopting revenue-driven buyback programs. For instance, projects like Hyperliquid and Raydium have used trading fees to fund token burns, while Jupiter allocates 50% of protocol fees to long-term token locks. Ocean's strategy, however, is unique in its emphasis on spin-out profits, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of innovation and token scarcity.

As the crypto market navigates regulatory and economic uncertainties, Ocean's exit from the ASI Alliance underscores the evolving dynamics of tokenomics. By prioritizing independent governance and deflationary mechanisms, Ocean aims to secure long-term value for OCEAN holders while navigating the fragmented landscape of AI-driven blockchain ecosystems.

Source: [1] The Block (https://www.theblock.co/post/373977/ocean-protocol-withdraws-from-artificial-superintelligence-alliance) [2] PANews Lab (https://www.panewslab.com/en/articles/bf194b1c-5a14-4a02-8144-2787ca82c82c) [6] The 2025 Buyback Wave in Crypto (https://blog.millionero.com/blog/the-2025-buyback-wave-in-crypto-whos-buying-how-to-track-it/)