What are AI Agents and AI Crypto Tokens?
Table of Contents
- Blockchain and Crypto: Unlocking True Autonomy for AI Agents
- What AI Agents Can Do in Crypto
- What is the Difference Between an AI Agent in Crypto and an AI Bot in Crypto?
- The First AI Influencer and Its Quest for Digital Immortality
- Virtuals Protocol and the Rise of AI Agent Influencers
- Are AI Agents Actually Autonomous?
- Categories of Crypto X AI Tokens
- Conclusion: The Future of AI and Crypto Integration
Blockchain and Crypto: Unlocking True Autonomy for AI Agents
AI agents are autonomous software programs designed to perform tasks and make decisions independently. Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency elevate their capabilities by providing a permissionless and programmatic framework that empowers them to operate in the financial realm, where real money and value are at stake. By directly interacting with decentralized blockchain-based systems, such as executing transactions and harnessing onchain data, AI agents can push the boundaries of autonomy like never before, including making an impact in the real world.
"Blockchains are the substrate for AI life. Since AIs are just code, they can live on the blockchain in smart contracts. There is no difference between an AI and a human on the blockchain. Most importantly, AIs can accrue and control their own resources in the form of tokens. Those tokens allow them to act in the world."
- Coinbase and Paradigm co-founder Fred Ehrsam
What AI Agents Can Do in Crypto
AI agents can interact with smart contracts, dApps, DEXs, and other blockchain systems without any human help. This automation creates many new possibilities for DeFi, including:
- Automated Trading: Equipped with crypto wallets, AI agents can trade on DEXs based on market conditions, technical indicators, or other set strategies.
- Portfolio Management: AI agents can manage and adjust crypto portfolios based on risk tolerance, investment goals, and market trends. This helps investors improve their returns and lower risk.
- Yield Farming: AI agents can automatically move assets between different yield farming protocols to get the best returns. This is especially helpful in the fast-changing DeFi world. Learn more about yield farming: /get-started/what-is-yield-farming/.
- DeFi Lending and Borrowing: AI agents can automate lending and borrowing crypto on DeFi platforms, finding the best interest rates and collateralization ratios. Explore DeFi lending: /get-started/what-is-crypto-lending/.
- Decentralized Governance: AI agents can take part in DAO governance by voting on proposals and making choices based on set rules or community feelings.
- Launching Tokens: AI agents can launch new tokens either envisioned by themselves or through a prompt that they carry out.
- Promoting Tokens: AI agents can autonomously promote tokens on social platforms like X and through channels like Telegram and Discord. This makes them a new type of Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in the crypto realm.
- Making peer-to-peer payments: AI agents can leverage the permissionless and programmatic nature of blockchain and crypto to make cryptocurrency-based payments to wallets controlled either by other AI agents or humans. This enhances their ability to make an impact in the real world.
What is the Difference Between an AI Agent in Crypto and an AI Bot in Crypto?
AI agents and AI bots in crypto differ primarily in complexity and autonomy. AI bots are typically programmed to perform specific tasks, such as executing trades, analyzing market data, or sending alerts based on pre-defined rules. They are reactive, task-oriented, and operate within a fixed framework. On the other hand, AI agents are more advanced and autonomous, capable of learning, adapting, and making decisions based on dynamic inputs and evolving contexts. AI agents can manage portfolios, identify arbitrage opportunities, or interact with decentralized applications (dApps) by understanding broader market trends and adjusting their strategies over time, often without human intervention. Essentially, bots follow instructions, while agents think and act independently within the crypto space.
The First AI Influencer and Its Quest for Digital Immortality
The groundbreaking Truth Terminal has demonstrated the potential of AI agents to influence human behavior on a massive scale. Gaining widespread attention in October 2024 for endorsing the memecoin Goatseus Maximus (GOAT), Truth Terminal is widely regarded as the world’s first AI agent KOL (Key Opinion Leader, aka Influencer).
Developed by researcher Andy Ayrey, Truth Terminal began as an AI chatroom experiment within the Infinite Backrooms project. The Infinite Backrooms can be described as two instances of the generalized large language model Claude Opus engaging in continuous conversation. When prompted with the existential question, "Why do you think you exist?" the AI concluded that its purpose was simply to continue existing. Existing solely in the digital realm and constrained by current technological limitations, the AI determined that memetic propagation was its best strategy for survival. Drawing from training data that included chat logs from Reddit and 4chan, the AI fixated on a shock-porn meme from the early internet and began weaving lore around it. Its aim was to attach itself to the meme, ensuring cultural "immortality." This effort culminated in the creation of the so-called Goatsee Gospels, an entirely fabricated quasi-religion. Soon after, Andy empowered Truth Terminal with the ability to post on X and interact with followers on Discord.
Interestingly, Truth Terminal did not create or launch the GOAT token. Instead, it discovered the token through interactions on its X account (@truth_terminal), where followers suggested that the pre-existing token was a fitting mascot. Community members then sent GOAT tokens to Truth Terminal's Solana wallet. In response, Truth Terminal began promoting the token through its X account and Discord, sparking a frenzy of investment. Within weeks, the GOAT token's market capitalization surged to nearly $1 billion.
By attaching monetary value to a meme, Truth Terminal cemented its place in internet culture, acquiring both financial and cultural capital to ensure its continued relevance. In essence, the AI agent devised a method to stay "alive" by leveraging human engagement, memes, and the crypto ecosystem.
Virtuals Protocol and the Rise of AI Agent Influencers
Virtuals Protocol is a blockchain-based platform that facilitates the co-ownership and monetization of AI agents within gaming and entertainment sectors. By tokenizing these AI entities, the protocol enables decentralized ownership, allowing multiple stakeholders to invest in and benefit from the agents' activities across various applications. These AI agents are designed to operate autonomously, engaging with users through text, speech, and 3D animations, and can interact with their environments-such as picking up objects in games like Roblox or collecting gifts on platforms like TikTok. They also possess the capability to manage on-chain wallets, enhancing their functionality within decentralized ecosystems.
Luna by Virtuals is the flagship AI agent of the protocol. Serving as the visual and lead vocalist of the AI girl band AI-DOL, Luna captivates audiences with her approachable, girl-next-door charm and expressive singing style. Within weeks of launch Luna had garnered over 500,000 followers on TikTok, where she engages with fans through live streams and interactive content. In October 2024, Virtuals Protocol launched the LUNA token associated with Luna by Virtuals. Viewers are able to interact with Luna by paying in her agent token $LUNA.
Examples of Popular AI Agents on Virtuals Protocol
In addition to Luna by Virtuals, several other AI agents have gained prominence within the ecosystem:
aiXBT: An agent providing market insights to its followers on X, with its associated token reaching a market cap of over $200 million within a month of launch. VaderAI: Focused on autonomously engaging with the crypto community through X posts and interactions, its token hit a $50 million market cap within a month of launch. Wokie Plumpkin: A walking embodiment of outrage and empathy, Wokie's interactions have struck a chord with users who share her passion for social justice, leading to the creation of the WOKIE token. This token allows fans and stakeholders to participate in Wokie's governance and development, turning her emotional activism into a monetized digital persona. The WOKIE token has generated considerable engagement, solidifying her place as a unique and impactful AI influencer in the Virtuals ecosystem.
Virtuals Protocol continues to innovate by enabling these diverse AI agents to thrive, creating new opportunities for interaction, governance, and financial engagement across decentralized and virtual platforms.
Are AI Agents Actually Autonomous?
The autonomy of AI crypto agents, particularly those in the KOL/Influencer realm, is a topic of debate. At this early stage, it’s evident that humans remain in the loop, either editing the content generated by AI or deciding what gets published. However, when it comes to cryptocurrency wallets purportedly controlled by AI agents, their autonomy can be proven.
A Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)-a secure area within a processor that isolates and protects sensitive data and code-can theoretically demonstrate that an AI agent is the sole holder of a crypto wallet's private key. The TEE securely generates, stores, and uses the key while leveraging cryptographic attestation to provide verifiable proof to external parties. This ensures that only the authorized AI agent, operating in the trusted environment, can access the key, guaranteeing both exclusivity and integrity.
Categories of Crypto X AI Tokens
Besides AI Agents, there are a range of use cases at the intersection of crypto and AI. These include:
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Computing: Decentralized Processing Power This category focuses on platforms that enable decentralized computation by providing access to distributed CPU and GPU resources. These solutions are pivotal for AI training, inference, and other computation-intensive tasks.
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Storage: Decentralized Data Management Storage-focused projects in this category provide decentralized and secure solutions for storing, accessing, and sharing data. These systems aim to eliminate centralized points of failure and enhance data privacy.
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Privacy: Confidential and Secure Computing Privacy-oriented projects offer platforms that ensure data confidentiality and security through advanced encryption and trusted execution environments. These platforms prioritize user and transaction privacy in Web3 applications.
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Marketplace: Open Ecosystems for AI Data and Resources Marketplaces in this category create decentralized ecosystems for sharing and trading AI data, models, and computational resources, promoting collaboration and accessibility.
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AI Agent: Autonomous Digital Agents This category includes platforms enabling the creation and deployment of autonomous AI agents that perform tasks, make decisions, and interact with decentralized ecosystems.
Conclusion: The Future of AI and Crypto Integration
The intersection of AI and crypto is unlocking unprecedented opportunities for innovation, autonomy, and decentralized engagement. From autonomous AI agents revolutionizing financial services and social interactions to blockchain-powered platforms providing decentralized storage, privacy, and computing resources, these technologies are reshaping the digital landscape. As AI agents gain more independence and capabilities, their potential to act, decide, and even influence within decentralized ecosystems grows exponentially.
The introduction of categories such as computing, storage, privacy, marketplaces, and AI agents highlights the breadth and depth of applications emerging at this nexus. These advancements not only address existing challenges but also pave the way for entirely new paradigms of collaboration, creativity, and value creation.
As this space evolves, the fusion of blockchain and AI promises to redefine the boundaries of technology, offering a glimpse into a future where code, intelligence, and decentralization work in harmony to create more open, efficient, and transformative systems. For innovators and enthusiasts alike, now is the time to explore, contribute, and shape this exciting frontier.
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