AI-focused crypto tokens saw bigger losses than most of the wider market after the U.S. government announced a new condition on AI chip exports to China.
Story (IP) fell 16.10% to $5.64, NEAR Protocol (NEAR) dropped 5.22% to $2.58, and Internet Computer (ICP) slid 5.32% to $5.33. Bittensor (TAO) and Render (RNDR) also traded lower.
By comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2.11% to $118,493.99 and Ethereum (ETH) dropped 0.96% to $4,278.89. The steeper losses in AI-related tokens show that sellers targeted this sector more aggressively.
Trump Demands 15% Cut on AI Chip Sales to China
The U.S. government has strict rules that limit the sale of advanced technology — including high-performance AI chips — to China. These rules limit China’s access to hardware that the military, surveillance programs, or advanced AI systems could use. Normally, companies like Nvidia and AMD must obtain export licenses to ship such chips to China, and without those licenses, the government bans the sales.
This week, President Donald Trump announced a new condition for granting those licenses. Under the deal, Nvidia and AMD must give the U.S. government 15% of the revenue they earn from selling certain AI chips to Chinese customers. This is not a formal tax or tariff — which the Constitution restricts on exports. It is rather a revenue-sharing requirement tied directly to license approval.
The chips covered are Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s MI308 models. Both are specially designed to meet U.S. export restrictions by being less powerful than their top-end products. Trump said he initially demanded 20% but reduced it to 15% after negotiations with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Critics have called the arrangement unprecedented. Past export controls either allowed sales with technical limits or blocked them outright. In this case, the U.S. is allowing sales but taking a cut, blending trade policy with national security measures in a way that could face legal challenges.
China is one of the largest markets for AI chips globally. Any change in the profitability or volume of these sales can influence Nvidia’s global growth outlook. In turn, it could also affect broader expectations for AI infrastructure development worldwide.
AI Coins Fall Harder Than Market
The wider crypto market was mixed during the same period. Bitcoin and Ethereum recorded smaller daily declines, while some other large-cap coins saw mild gains over the week. This suggests the sharp drop in AI tokens may have been driven more by sector sentiment than by broad market weakness.
AI coins are cryptocurrencies linked to projects that use artificial intelligence in their networks. Examples include platforms that rent out computing power for AI models, store large datasets for training, or render AI-generated images and videos. Nvidia’s chips power much of the computing backbone for such projects, directly or indirectly.
If selling AI chips to China becomes less profitable, companies there might reduce purchases. Slower hardware adoption in a major market can weaken investor confidence in AI-related crypto projects. This is especially the case for projects tied to computing, storage, or rendering capacity.