Decentralized AI tokens sold off on June 26 after the New York Times reported that OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering until 2027. NEAR Protocol's token dropped 8.51% to $1.77 and Bittensor's TAO slid 3.94% to $208.45, per TheStreet.
The moves reveal a structural fact: AI-native crypto tokens now carry correlated risk with Big Tech AI listing timelines, with no direct financial link required to move the price.
The New York Times, citing three people involved in OpenAI's deliberations, reported that the company is deciding between going public this year at a valuation below $1 trillion or waiting until 2027 for a better chance at clearing that mark. OpenAI filed a confidential S-1 on June 8 and carried a private-market valuation of $852 billion as of March 2026. Bankers advising the company pointed to SpaceX as a warning: the stock debuted at $135 per share on June 11, climbed past $225, then pulled back to roughly $153 by June 26, which advisers read as thin retail appetite for high-valuation tech listings. CEO Sam Altman has called sub-$1T pricing a "non-starter," the Times reported.
NEAR Protocol is a layer-one chain built around AI-native use cases; Bittensor is a decentralized network that rewards AI model contributions with TAO tokens. Neither holds a financial stake in OpenAI, and no protocol-level event on June 26 explains the moves. The sell-off was sentiment-driven.
That sentiment channel is now visible in price action. When a Big Tech AI IPO timeline slips, decentralized AI tokens reprice with it. These assets now trade as proxies for centralized AI narrative as much as for their own on-chain fundamentals.