[PRESS RELEASE – New York, United States, September 20th, 2024]

The Ignition AI Accelerator, a collaborative initiative between NVIDIA, Tribe, and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), today announced that Aptos Foundation has partnered with The Ignition AI Accelerator to drive growth and advancement of AI startups in Asia. This deepens Aptos Foundation’s work to connect its expertise and Aptos-related technology with artificial intelligence solutions that are expected to be the game changer for economies and businesses.

With Aptos Foundation providing industry expertise and funding support, The Ignition AI Accelerator is poised to drive APAC’s next generation of high-potential AI innovators and founders that are pushing the boundaries of AI development on a global scale. According to recent IMF research, Singapore is the world’s most prepared country for AI, which reflects years of aggressive investment in AI infrastructure and talent in the country.

Aptos Foundation will be providing resources and support for AI startups in the accelerator, opening doors to emerging technologies and providing them with access to global markets. Aptos Foundation will leverage Microsoft’s OpenAI Service, which it hopes will eliminate barriers to adoption and establish a clear path for the practical application of frontier technologies. Aptos Foundation has key relationships with AI leaders, including Overlai and Adot.

Ng Yi Ming, Director, The Ignition AI Accelerator, emphasised, “Onboarding Aptos Foundation as a technical partner marks a key milestone in The Ignition AI Accelerator’s mission to fuel AI startups and drive synergies with global leaders in emerging technologies. By harnessing resources and expertise, we aim to empower AI startups with the tools they need to build applications that will define the next phase of technological advancements. Together, we are committed to driving the evolution of the AI sector and nurturing a new generation of AI entrepreneurs.”

While Aptos Foundation’s mission is to drive blockchain accessibility and decentralisation, the expansion further into AI technologies is expected to add a new dimension to the global ecosystem bringing emergent technologies to the masses.

“The growth potential for AI is unmatched, and we look forward to leading the way in this transformative approach to fueling innovation and entrepreneurship. With this partnership, we aim to join the global partners at The Ignition AI Accelerator in catalysing the creation of AI applications, ideas, products and services,” said Bashar Lazaar, Head of Grants & Ecosystem of Aptos Foundation. “Together, we will empower a new wave of AI tech founders and pioneers building the future in APAC with worldwide potential.

The Ignition AI Accelerator, launched in May 2024, is a global initiative based in Singapore that supports AI startups with business and technical acceleration, offering deep AI development expertise, cloud credits, and funding opportunities. Since its inception, it has partnered with leading industry giants to provide diverse emerging ventures with the right knowledge and expertise to scale their AI-focused businesses globally.

About The Ignition AI Accelerator

The Ignition AI Accelerator, a collaborative initiative by NVIDIA and Tribe and supported by Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), is designed to identify high-potential, growth-stage tech founders to accelerate their success and growth. We are dedicated to fostering a growing and thriving tech & AI ecosystem by pushing the boundaries of what frontier technologies can offer.

The Ignition AI Accelerator provides high-potential, growth-stage tech founders with access to cutting-edge AI tools and deep development guidance, aimed at producing market-ready AI products and services. By leveraging a global network of corporate and investor partners, The Ignition AI Accelerator helps startups forge significant partnerships and penetrate international markets, driving innovation and transformation across sectors including in healthcare and finance.

The Ignition AI Accelerator is exploring corporate partnerships. Interested parties can find out more information at  https://www.theignition.ai.

About Aptos Foundation

Aptos Foundation is dedicated to supporting the development of the Aptos protocol, decentralized network and ecosystem and driving engagement with the Aptos ecosystem. By unlocking a blockchain with seamless usability, Aptos Foundation aims to bring the benefits of decentralization to the masses. Users can visit https://www.aptosfoundation.org for more information.

About Aptos Network

Aptos is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. Aptos’ breakthrough technology and programming language, Move, are designed to evolve, improve performance and strengthen user safeguards. Users can visit https://www.aptosfoundation.org for more information on the Aptos blockchain.

Bitcoin’s price run after the Fed’s rate cut was halted at $64,000 and the asset was pushed down by around a grand.

The altcoins are also in the red on a daily scale, with the biggest corrections coming from the likes of TON, AVAX, and NEAR from the larger caps.

BTC Down to $63K

Bitcoin started the business week with a correction that drove it from over $60,000 to under $58,000 on Monday. It was expected to be a highly volatile week for the asset as the US Federal Reserve had a meeting on Wednesday to discuss a reduction in the key interest rates.

In the hours ahead of the event, BTC skyrocketed to over $61,000 but went on a rollercoaster once the US central bank indeed cut the rates by 0.5% on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the bulls prevailed and initiated another massive leg-up that drove the cryptocurrency to just over $64,000 yesterday, which became its highest price tag in over three weeks.

However, the asset failed to maintain its run and has declined by a grand since then, currently trading around $63,000. Additionally, there are other signs that the run could be over for now, and BTC could drop even further.

Its market capitalization has retraced to just under $1.250 trillion, and its dominance over the alts, which shot up to 55% at one point, is now down to 54.3% on CG.

Alts in Retracement Mode

The alternative coins registered impressive gains since Wednesday as well but have calmed on a daily scale. ETH, XRP, BNB, TRX, and SHIB have seen price movements of less than 1%. Others, such as SOL, DOGE, ADA, LINK, and BCH, have declined by 1-2%.

More notable price drops have come from the likes of Toncoin, Avalance, and NEAR Protocol. TON has tanked by 5% and now sits at $5.5, AVAX is down by 4% to $27, and NEAR (-4%) sits at $4.3.

WIF is the biggest loser from the top 100 alts, having dumped by almost 10%. NOT, BRETT, POPCAT, and AR follow suit.

The total crypto market cap has shed about $40 billion since yesterday and is below $2.3 trillion now.

The past ten days or so went quite positively for bitcoin as the asset added almost ten grand within this timeframe, mostly fueled by the US Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce the key interest rates.

However, certain social metrics suggest that the cryptocurrency’s run could be over, at least in the short term.

FOMO to Halt BTC’s Uptrend?

It was just last Wednesday, September 11, when bitcoin’s price tumbled hard after the US CPI numbers came out. At the time, the asset slumped to $55,500. However, it went on the offensive in the following days amid continuous speculation about the Fed’s next move.

A week later, the US central bank decided to pivot from its four-year-long monetary strategy and reduced the interest rates in a move that mimicked the ECB, the Bank of Canada, and the Bank of England.

After the inevitable immediate volatility for BTC and other markets, the cryptocurrency reacted well and gained almost five grand within days, going from $59,500 to a three-week peak of $64,000. Nevertheless, its rally has stopped for now, and the asset is back to just under $63,000.

Data from Santiment suggests that this cooldown could be followed by an even more violent retracement due to social media interactions. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) levels skyrocketed this week to the fourth highest since the start of the year. Usually, such rapid increases are followed by corrections, as it happened after the ATH in March, and the rallies in early June and late July.

With a very bullish week of crypto transitioning into weekend mode, @santimentfeed has picked up a very bullish crowd sentiment spike. Understandably, the crowd has reason to be optimistic about Bitcoin & others continuing to rise after the Fed’s first rate cuts in 4.5 years.… pic.twitter.com/KTosasj6tS

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) September 21, 2024

Santiment warned that the crypto market is particularly susceptible to such reactions, and it typically tends to go in the opposite direction.

Back to Neutral

The Fear and Greed Index, which gauges different information like social media interactions, price movements, surveys, etc, to determine the current sentiment toward the industry, has increased by 21 points in the past few days.

It was back in a ‘fear’ state (33) on September 17 (the day before the rate cuts) but has risen to a multi-week peak of 54 (neutral). Recall that BTC’s price tanked from $65,000 to under $52,000 within weeks after the last time the index went this high in such a rapid fashion.