Erik Voorhees-backed AI startup Venice debuts its VVV crypto token on Base

AI startup Venice, backed by ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees, has made its debut into the Web3 space with the launch of its VVV cryptocurrency on Coinbase’s Base layer-2 network. Venice, known for its AI-driven offerings, aims to enhance accessibility to its services by enabling AI agents to stake VVV tokens for continuous access to its growing API, which includes generative capabilities for text, images, and code.

Rather than the conventional pay-per-request model, Venice is introducing a staking system where agents can stake VVV tokens and earn a share of the platform’s inference capacity. As per the startup’s Jan. 27 announcement, staking 1% of the VVV tokens would entitle users to 1% of Venice’s API capacity indefinitely, offering a more predictable and cost-effective approach to using its services.

In conjunction with the token launch, Venice initiated an airdrop, distributing a total of 50 million VVV tokens. Half of these tokens were given to over 100,000 Venice users, while the remaining half went to AI and crypto communities such as Virtuals, Luna, and VaderAI. The total supply of VVV is capped at 100 million tokens at launch, with an additional 14 million tokens set to be minted annually. These new tokens will be distributed as staking rewards.

Erik Voorhees first introduced Venice in May 2024, focusing on decentralization, privacy, and permissionless technology as key pillars of the project. Venice’s mission is to provide users with a decentralized alternative to the increasingly centralized AI services offered by major companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.