The native cryptocurrency of the Base-based Virtuals Protocol for creating and owning AI agents, VIRTUAL, has outperformed all major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC), over the past four weeks as it attracted increased participation from the "smart money" wallets, according to on-chain data tracked by Nansen.
VIRTUAL has rallied 207% to $1.66 in 30 days to rank as the best performer among the top 100 tokens by market value, according to data source CoinDesk. Prices have risen 11% in the past seven days.
In comparison, bitcoin has increased 13% over four weeks and remained flat over seven days.
The token is also the most traded by smart money - wallets identified by Nansen as being owned by institutions, funds and influential whales - with $14.2 million in smart money inflows over 30 days and $8.56 million over seven days. The other smart money favorites include EBTC, LINK and PEPE.
The table shows the top tokens traded - bought or sold on a DEX or sent/received from centralized exchanges - by smart money wallets. According to Nansen's explainer, the buying activity is represented in green and the selling activity in red.
The leadership is likely fueled by the debut of the Genesis launchpad two weeks ago. The new system, designed to reward genuine contributors and not mere speculators, uses a "proof of contribution" points system, where participants earn Virgen points through activities like staking or staking AI projects.
"Since its debut, most tokens launched through it have 2x'd or more, fueling demand for Virgen Points and showing there's still room for creativity in token design," Bankless said on X.
Other key features of the new system include contribution-based allocations, automatic refunds if goals aren't met and transparent vesting schedules.
"Genesis breathes fresh life into Virtuals while also showcasing a novel mechanism for designing token launches," Bankless said, adding that the contribution-based system isn't perfect but certainly "rivals" who-knows-who or other primitive systems prone to manipulation.
