Artificial intelligence firm OpenAI hits a $500 billion valuation after a secondary share sale, surpassing SpaceX, ByteDance, and Anthropic in worth. The deal highlights the growing importance of AI and blockchain as key players in digital infrastructure. Investors include Thrive Capital, SoftBank, and T.Rowe Price.

In comparison, Coinbase, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange, has a market cap of $89 billion. Even major crypto players like Ripple and Binance haven’t reached the $100 billion mark. Tether, a stablecoin issuer, could be the closest to rivaling OpenAI’s market cap with a potential valuation of $515 billion if it were to go public.

Galaxy Digital CEO predicts AI agents will be the main users of stablecoins, with over 70% of stablecoin transactions in Q3 2025 linked to bot activity. Galaxy Digital secures a $1.4 billion loan for its Texas Helios AI data center, aiming to provide infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing operations.

Akash founder warns of the energy crisis AI development may bring, suggesting nuclear power may be necessary to sustain training models. He advocates for more sustainable approaches like decentralized AI training to address the growing energy demands of AI technologies.

Read more at Cointelegraph: OpenAI Becomes World’s Largest Startup With $500B Valuation