In a recent episode of the SlateCast, CryptoSlate CEO Nate Whitehill and Editor-in-Chief Liam “Akiba” Wright sat down with Indra Winarta, Head of Ecosystem at Pundi AI. Known for pioneering real-world crypto payments since 2017, Indra now leads Pundi’s evolution into the artificial intelligence frontier.
From Payments to Data: A Dual-Track Vision
Indra clarified early in the conversation that Pundi AI is not abandoning its roots in payments. Instead, it has expanded its ecosystem to include an AI-native layer, rebranding its Function X blockchain into what is now known as Pundi AI FX.
“We’re not pivoting from our payment business,” Indra said. “Pundi X is focused on payments, while Pundi AI builds on top of our layer-one blockchain to tap into AI.”
Pundi AI is developing several flagship offerings, including a data marketplace and a decentralized data annotation platform. The goal? Empower users globally to earn by contributing valuable training data, laying the foundation for more accurate and ethical AI.
Tag-to-Earn and the Human Layer in AI
A key feature of the Pundi AI ecosystem is its “tag-to-earn” mechanism, enabling users to annotate data and receive rewards in the Pundi AI token. Indra emphasized the importance of human-driven data labeling in an era of synthetic datasets.
“We’re not just scraping the internet. Companies come to us with specific needs, and we guide annotators through well-defined tasks,” he explained. “This ensures the data is high quality and useful.”
As Pundi AI prepares to launch its data marketplace, the platform aims to streamline the process for businesses to find and purchase pre-labeled datasets, opening new paths for scalable, enterprise-grade AI models.
Community, Tokenomics, and Ecosystem Alignment
In 2024, the community voted to rebrand the FX token to Pundi AI. This migration introduced a new tokenomics model that centers the Pundi AI token as both a governance asset and a reward currency for data contributors.
“The rebrand was more than a name change,” said Indra. “The Pundi AI token now plays a core role in accessing and contributing to our AI ecosystem.”
Importantly, the token is not linked to Pundi X’s payments infrastructure, maintaining a separation between the two operational arms while allowing overlapping communities to participate in both.
Strategic Partnerships and AI Agent Expansion
Pundi AI is gaining traction through collaborations with a range of AI agent projects, including Flop AI, Swarm, and Siren AI. These partners rely on Pundi AI’s curated datasets to build specialized agents.
“We’ve seen the fastest traction with AI agents,” Indra noted. “Developers can plug directly into our data repository to train their models.”
A major milestone came when Pundi AI was accepted into NVIDIA’s Inception Program, a notable achievement given NVIDIA’s historical distance from crypto-linked initiatives.
“We’re one of the first blockchain-integrated AI projects accepted,” he said. “But we don’t label ourselves as Web3 AI, we’re AI that connects with blockchain.”
Onboarding Through Familiarity: The Paxos Gold Case
The discussion also highlighted Pundi’s project with Paxos and Cyan in South Africa, enabling users to swap digital Pax Gold for physical gold via XPOS terminals.
“This showed us the power of familiar assets to onboard new users,” Indra shared. “People understood gold, and from there, it was easier to introduce crypto and blockchain.”
Building on that success, Pundi is now integrating other real-world assets and local currencies, such as the Indonesian rupiah, into its blockchain payment terminals.
Looking Ahead: Data Marketplaces and Web2 Integration
The 2025 roadmap focuses heavily on expanding data collaboration, particularly with AI agent frameworks and traditional Web2 enterprises like medical firms seeking annotated data.
“We’re working hard to onboard more AI projects and launch our data marketplace,” Indra said. “We’re also engaging Web2 companies to bridge them into our ecosystem.”
He teased an upcoming partnership announcement slated for the coming weeks, promising more momentum in Pundi AI’s expansion.
Conclusion: A Future Defined by Utility
As the episode drew to a close, Indra reflected on the journey from blockchain-powered point-of-sale systems to AI-integrated data infrastructure. “What excites me is that we’re still early in the AI space,” he said. “Opportunities keep evolving, sometimes monthly, and we’re ready to build features that people haven’t even imagined yet.”
Pundi AI is proving that meaningful convergence between AI and blockchain is not only possible but also practical, grounded in real-world use, driven by community engagement, and accelerating toward a data-powered future.
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