5 categories to watch for in crypto x AI agents (+ examples)

5 categories to watch for in crypto x AI agents (+ examples)

As a preface, the categories of Crypto x AI projects span multiple levels. The true technological prospects of Crypto x AI are mostly related to guiding better reasoning through crypto economics or providing decentralized access to computation. Delphi's article is a good starting point for understanding the entire stack.

However, this article focuses on our current state regarding agents. While there are exciting innovations at the lower levels of the stack, agents seem to have captured the attention of the mainstream cryptocurrency community. As Crypto x AI agents continue to evolve, here are 5 trends worth watching.

Trend 1 | Framework + Launchpad: Value accumulation is becoming important, and frameworks may persist

To take a step back, why do people hold assets? There are two main reasons people exchange dollars for assets:

@izebel_eth wrote in his article "Old Coins Worse, New Coins Better" that the only thing that matters is the flow of funds. The following two reasons reflect two bullish fund flows:

However, in most cases, we do not see anything resembling true token deflation or value accumulation. Using tokens through agent terminals (like AIXBT) is more akin to staking than traditional value accumulation.

This is also why frameworks like Virtuals, ai16z, zerebro, and arc have recently gained popularity. ai16z started primarily as an investment DAO and has become a leader among such protocols since releasing details about its upcoming launchpad and token value accumulation.

Today, the framework + launchpad space is very saturated, and first-mover advantages have propelled their success. There are many reasonable doubts about the utility surrounding these launchpads, as many agents themselves are of little use. However, those frameworks (eliza V2 + launchpad, zentients, arc, and their handshake plans) have not yet launched their main products. If they successfully attract developers and users, they may continue to lead the entire track.

Why will frameworks continue to exist?

Regardless of whether agents have real value, frameworks for launching agents will perform well because they still have a "product-market fit" (PMF) with speculation. Framework + launchpad allows users to have both a factory and a casino. To some extent, Virtuals has already replaced pump.fun in the Base ecosystem.

More optimistically, as technology advances, leading frameworks may launch more advanced agents, while the development speed of open-source software libraries like Eliza will be faster. Many of these launch platforms will also become a coordinating layer for communication between groups and agents, which will use their tokens for some form of value transfer. For more in-depth articles on Eliza's value capture, see this piece written by Teng Yan last week.

Virtuals, ai16z, Zerebro, and arc are currently the main players in this track, but the launchpad space is becoming increasingly saturated. The frameworks with the fastest iteration speed, greatest scalability, and most unique features are the ones to watch.

Trend 2 | The next round of agents will prioritize utility and value accumulation, DeFAI (DeFi x AI) may be the first type of agent to achieve product-market fit

Most agents only have meme tokens with no utility. For the agent industry to grow, the next round of agents must further refine use cases. New opportunities will come from agents that can truly accumulate value and take action. I believe that in the next year, tier 1 agents will leap to tier 3 agents.

We will first see this in the DeFi space. We will see more terminals that allow people to express desired outcomes in natural language or voice, as well as agents that can execute tasks behind the scenes. Existing wallets and protocols will also integrate agents to improve user experience.

Representative projects include: Wayfinder, griffain, Hey Anon, Limitus, neur.

Trend 3 | Consumer Layer: Entertainment agents, autonomous worlds, and the revival of gaming

Attention-driven agents will develop more complex personalities and multimedia interactivity. This could trigger the next wave of gaming and metaverse technologies.

One issue with existing agents is that they are becoming increasingly similar, turning into commoditized, exaggerated chatbots. While some agent projects will shift towards infrastructure (many are already doing so), some are starting to think about useful products/applications, while others may continue down the path of attention tokens. However, the next generation of attention agents will be better, developing more complex personalities and offering greater interactivity. This can be achieved through audiovisual expressions or by giving agents a three-dimensional presence and physical bodies.

There have already been early attempts in this area; Jeffy wrote an article about implanting bodies into Zerebro, and some well-known KOL agents have launched directly through audiovisual forms like short videos. Slopfather and Ropirito are two early adopters of the video model.

However, I believe more agent projects will adopt these features to make agents more vibrant. The product-market