What is Fetch.ai? Fetch.ai in 2024 explained
Interested in the Fetch.ai project history and what is Fetch.ai used for? This article will go into details about how fetch.ai works, the project history, and how to buy the token.
Table of Contents
What is Fetch.ai?
Fetch.ai (FET) is a project that makes custom AI services available to its users. In a nutshell, Fetch.ai provides services that allow users to automate processes in many industries and ideally reduce their overhead costs by doing so.
The project styles itself as an an autonomous “machine-to-machine” ecosystem that enables AI programs, called agents, to perform a variety of functions.
Potential use cases include:
- Improving trading efficiency for financial services clients
- Allowing smart cities to improve services for residents
- Eliminating unnecessary middlemen in the gig economy by optimizing job recruitment
Fetch.ai aims to automate processes in industries like supply chain tracking, energy, finance, Web3, transportation, and many more.
History and development: who created Fetch.ai?
Fetch.ai was founded in 2017 by Thomas Hain, Toby Simpson, and Humayun Sheikh. Outlier Ventures funded and supported Fetch.ai. The project also launched an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) on Binance that raised $6 million in just 10 seconds.
The Fetch.ai team deployed the mainnet in early 2020. The team secured partnerships with Bosch to introduce automation and AI data systems for industrial applications and also with Datarella to trial smart city infrastructure in Munich, Germany.
How does Fetch.ai work?
There are a few different elements to Fetch.ai: here’s how it all works.
AI Agents that carry out functions and make decisions on the platform
The Agentverse is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform where agents are fine-tuned.
The AI Engine is an interface that adds a human touch by receiving instructions and queries.
The Fetch Network brings all of these layers together into one interface.
Fetch.ai transactions are verified by its own version of the blockchain’s Proof of Stake. FET tokens are needed as AI agents that run on the network and to train these agents. They also perform transactions for smart contracts, network oracles, and transactions.
Network agents use machine learning to adapt to real-time media and circumstances, which proponents of Fetch.ai state help improve network efficiency.
Let’s take the Munich partnership as an example. In this smart city venture, Fetch.ai could monitor the flow of traffic and suggest improvements that would reduce congestion.
It could potentially put these improvements into practice of its own accord by controlling traffic lights based on real-time data.
Other examples include seeing to it that energy is being used efficiently.
How to buy Fetch.ai: methods and wallets
FET tokens are trading on multiple different crypto exchanges.
1. Register an exchange account
To begin, register an account at one of the following exchanges where FET tokens are traded.
Options:
Enter your email address and follow the instructions to make your account. Usually, you’ll also need to pass Know Your Customer (KYC) verification checks. These depend on the exchange, but you’ll need a photo ID and other information such as proof of your address.
2. Buy or deposit crypto
At the moment, you can’t buy FET directly with a fiat currency like USD or EUR.
What you can do is deposit money through a bank transfer and swap these funds for crypto, or simply deposit crypto directly to your exchange wallet.
Here’s a guide on buying crypto if you’re not sure where to begin.
3. Buy Fetch.ai (FET)
To buy FET, you’ll need to swap your cryptocurrency for FET. On Binance, you can trade FET for BNB, USDT, USDC, and BTC, and these last three crypto are common FET trading options for other exchanges as well.
Go to the spot trading menu in your exchange and enter the amount of FET you’re looking to purchase.
If you place a market order, the order will go through instantly at market value. If you place a limit order by selecting the exact price you want to trade at, your order will enter a queue and will be fulfilled if the demand is there.
Limit orders involve a little more know-how, time, and input on your end, and the trade-off for this is that the fee you pay is reduced.
5: Store your fetch.ai (FET) in a Wallet
You can store FET in a software or hardware wallet.
Hardware wallets like Ledger Nano S or Trezor keep your funds offline on a hardware device. Offline storage, or cold storage, is typically the most secure way to store crypto.
On the other hand, software wallets like MetaMask or TrustWallet are seen as more convenient and accessible. With software wallets, it’s particularly important to safeguard your private information like private keys by not storing such information online.
Regulatory landscape for Fetch.ai
It’s always useful to know the regulatory situation for a cryptocurrency you’re buying or monitoring, including Fetch.ai. Regulations can change in different areas around the world, which can impact the legality of trading a crypto. The price can also be affected by regulatory rulings.
Fetch.ai is an interesting project in terms of regulation due to operating as a cryptocurrency and an AI project, both of which are subject to regulations or potential future regulations.
United States
Crypto regulation in the US is managed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The SEC is the body that determines whether an asset, including cryptocurrencies, qualifies as a security. Securities are heavily regulated and can only be bought and sold with a license. FET has not been classified as a security, and therefore is not subject to any securities restrictions.
Exchanges that sell FET tokens must, however, comply with AML and KYC legislation in the US.
AI is not currently regulated in any specific manner in the US, but this is something that may be subject to change in the future as AI tools and businesses become more prevalent.
European Union
Crypto is regulated in the EU by individual national bodies. However, the EU is introducing the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation which seeks to provide a unified framework with which EU nations can regulate crypto. MiCA is due to come into effect in June 2024.
There is no indication that MiCA will negatively impact the operation or availability of Fetch.ai and FET tokens at this time. The EU also passed the EU Artificial Intelligence Act which deals with AI regulation in March 2024. The impact this regulation may have on projects like Fetch.ai remains to be seen.
Asia
Representing a major portion of the global population, Asia has diverse laws surrounding cryptocurrency. Japan and South Korea have strict and extensive regulations on crypto when it comes to anti-money laundering and KYC verification. China has banned the trade and mining of cryptocurrencies entirely, meaning the use case for Fetch.ai is very limited there as FET tokens cannot be sold. China is also working on introducing AI regulations.
In Singapore, AI is regulated by the 2019 Model AI Governance Framework, which aims to ensure that AI systems are human-centric and that decisions made by AI models are fair and transparent. Regulations like this are being discussed in many areas around the world, and it’s possible that they will impact the way the Fetch.ai network is allowed to operate.
Future outlook for Fetch.ai
Fetch.ai is a promising project in many respects, although it may face regulatory headwinds depending on how AI regulations may be implemented in the near future.
Technological advancements and integrations
As well as partnering with Bosch and Datarella, Fetch.ai has aligned itself with Deutsche Telekom via the Fetch.ai Foundation. Partnerships with reputable companies outside of the crypto space are often seen as a green flag that a project has a use case in a variety of industries.
Fetch.ai is now with multiple different blockchain networks thanks to integrating the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol by the Cosmos network. For example, there are now DeFi protocols on different networks that can support Fetch.ai technology. This effort to make projects compatible with each other in the blockchain space is called interoperability.
Projects that look like they won’t be limited to one network are often seen as having an edge over the competition.
A recent Fetch.ai upgrade also allowed for smart contracts using Rust programming language to run on the network, and this means that more advanced apps can be now be built on Fetch.ai.
Fetch.ai price history and market performance
The price of FET, the Fetch.ai cryptocurrency, recently hit new all-time highs, coinciding with an overall increase in interest in AI projects worldwide.
FET started trading in June 2019 at around $0.21 and has increased in value significantly. Price remained fairly dormant throughout 2019 – 2023 before exploding in value this year. The price of FET surged over 400% from February to March 2024, reaching $3.20. It now trading at $2.49.
The Potential of Fetch.ai
With serious partnerships under its belt and a promising use case in many areas, Fetch.ai is strongly positioned to carve out a corner of the AI solutions and services market. As demand for AI platforms increases, Fetch.ai may be able to become a dominant player, although this increased demand will mean more competition from other projects.
Fetch.ai is vulnerable to any potential technological weaknesses it may have, as well as unfavorable regulation in either the cryptocurrency or AI sector.
People following the project would do well to monitor the regulatory climate as well as the potential competition that Fetch.ai as the market for AI solutions and blockchain tech continues to grow.
FAQs
Who owns Fetch.ai?
Toby Simpson, Humayun Sheikh, and Thomas Hain are the founders of Fetch.ai. Fetch.ai Limited is registered in Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom A separate body, the Fetch.ai Foundation, is involved with the development and governance of the project.
Is Fetch.ai secure?
Fetch.ai was audited by the Certik blockchain auditing company, which issued a score of 91 out of 100 for the project. Projects that do not have such an audit can not be considered secure. While the audit from Certik is an excellent sign for the Fetch.ai project, audited projects can and do fall prey to human error and security breaches.
What makes Fetch.ai unique?
Fetch.ai is unique in its approach to deploying AI-driven autonomous agents on a blockchain network to improve operations for various industries. While other projects also use AI and machine learning as well as blockchain technology, the Fetch.ai ecosystem is unique in its 4-layer setup.
How many fetch.ai coins are there
Fetch.ai (FET) has a circulating supply of approximately 848,193,896 FET. The maximum supply of FET tokens is capped at 1.15 billion.
