In a current episode of the SlateCast, CryptoSlate CEO Nate Whitehill and Editor-in-Chief Liam “Akiba” Wright sat down with Indra Winarta, Head of Ecosystem at Pundi AI. Identified for pioneering real-world crypto funds since 2017, Indra now leads Pundi’s evolution into the factitious intelligence frontier.
From Funds to Information: A Twin-Observe Imaginative and prescient
Indra clarified early within the dialog that Pundi AI will not be abandoning its roots in funds. As an alternative, it has expanded its ecosystem to incorporate an AI-native layer, rebranding its Perform X blockchain into what’s now often known as Pundi AI FX.
“We’re not pivoting from our fee enterprise,” Indra mentioned. “Pundi X is concentrated on funds, whereas Pundi AI builds on high of our layer-one blockchain to faucet into AI.”
Pundi AI is growing a number of flagship choices, together with an information market and a decentralized knowledge annotation platform. The purpose? Empower customers globally to earn by contributing invaluable coaching knowledge, laying the muse for extra correct and moral AI.
Tag-to-Earn and the Human Layer in AI
A key characteristic of the Pundi AI ecosystem is its “tag-to-earn” mechanism, enabling customers to annotate knowledge and obtain rewards within the Pundi AI token. Indra emphasised the significance of human-driven knowledge labeling in an period of artificial datasets.
“We’re not simply scraping the web. Corporations come to us with particular wants, and we information annotators by means of well-defined duties,” he defined. “This ensures the info is top quality and helpful.”
As Pundi AI prepares to launch its knowledge market, the platform goals to streamline the method for companies to search out and buy pre-labeled datasets, opening new paths for scalable, enterprise-grade AI fashions.
Group, Tokenomics, and Ecosystem Alignment
In 2024, the neighborhood voted to rebrand the FX token to Pundi AI. This migration launched a brand new tokenomics mannequin that facilities the Pundi AI token as each a governance asset and a reward forex for knowledge contributors.
“The rebrand was greater than a reputation change,” mentioned Indra. “The Pundi AI token now performs a core function in accessing and contributing to our AI ecosystem.”
Importantly, the token will not be linked to Pundi X’s funds infrastructure, sustaining a separation between the 2 operational arms whereas permitting overlapping communities to take part in each.
Strategic Partnerships and AI Agent Growth
Pundi AI is gaining traction by means of collaborations with a variety of AI agent initiatives, together with Flop AI, Swarm, and Siren AI. These companions depend on Pundi AI’s curated datasets to construct specialised brokers.
“We’ve seen the quickest traction with AI brokers,” Indra famous. “Builders can plug instantly into our knowledge repository to coach their fashions.”
A serious milestone got here when Pundi AI was accepted into NVIDIA’s Inception Program, a notable achievement given NVIDIA’s historic distance from crypto-linked initiatives.
“We’re one of many first blockchain-integrated AI initiatives accepted,” he mentioned. “However we don’t label ourselves as Web3 AI, we’re AI that connects with blockchain.”
Onboarding By way of Familiarity: The Paxos Gold Case
The dialogue additionally highlighted Pundi’s venture with Paxos and Cyan in South Africa, enabling customers to swap digital Pax Gold for bodily gold by way of XPOS terminals.
“This confirmed us the ability of acquainted belongings to onboard new customers,” Indra shared. “Folks understood gold, and from there, it was simpler to introduce crypto and blockchain.”
Constructing on that success, Pundi is now integrating different real-world belongings and native currencies, such because the Indonesian rupiah, into its blockchain fee terminals.
Trying Forward: Information Marketplaces and Web2 Integration
The 2025 roadmap focuses closely on increasing knowledge collaboration, significantly with AI agent frameworks and conventional Web2 enterprises like medical companies in search of annotated knowledge.
“We’re working laborious to onboard extra AI initiatives and launch our knowledge market,” Indra mentioned. “We’re additionally partaking Web2 firms to bridge them into our ecosystem.”
He teased an upcoming partnership announcement slated for the approaching weeks, promising extra momentum in Pundi AI’s growth.
Conclusion: A Future Outlined by Utility
Because the episode drew to a detailed, Indra mirrored on the journey from blockchain-powered point-of-sale techniques to AI-integrated knowledge infrastructure. “What excites me is that we’re nonetheless early within the AI house,” he mentioned. “Alternatives maintain evolving, typically month-to-month, and we’re able to construct options that folks haven’t even imagined but.”
Pundi AI is proving that significant convergence between AI and blockchain will not be solely attainable but additionally sensible, grounded in real-world use, pushed by neighborhood engagement, and accelerating towards a data-powered future.
