The AI agents in the cryptocurrency field are still mainly focused on hype, and their actual specific applications still need to be observed and explored.
Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
Even though the overall cryptocurrency market is consolidating and fluctuating, the capital for AI agent concept tokens is bustling.
On January 2, VIRTUAL surged over 18% in 24 hours, with a current price of $4.72 and a market capitalization of $47.2 billion, reaching a new all-time high.
ZEREBRO surged over 16% in 24 hours, with a price of $0.72 and a market capitalization of over $7 billion, reaching a new all-time high.
AI16Z surged over 31%, with a current price of $2.37 and a market capitalization that once exceeded $25 billion, reaching a new all-time high.
COOKIE surged 119%, with a current price of $0.52 and a market capitalization of $72 million. Even the GOAT, which was almost forgotten by the market, surged over 19% with a current price of $0.6, and ACT surged 18% to $0.33.
The AI agent concept is in a state of chaos. What's happening behind the scenes?
OpenAI to release AI agent tool "Operator" this month
As early as last November, OpenAI planned to release an AI agent tool codenamed "Operator" in January 2025. The tool can automatically perform tasks on the user's computer, such as writing code or scheduling appointments. Insiders revealed that the tool will be launched as a research preview and opened to developers through an API.
In addition, OpenAI even boldly predicted last October that AI agents will become "mainstream" next year. Kevin Weil, OpenAI's Chief Product Officer, said, "These more agentic systems will become possible, and that's why I think 2025 will be the year that agent systems finally go mainstream."
As a heavyweight brand in the AI industry, any major updates and progress of its products will attract market attention and become the target of speculative capital. Therefore, it is not surprising that some hot and high-quality project tokens have gained market attention.
What is an AI agent and what are the possibilities of combining it with Crypto?
In short, an AI agent is an efficient intelligent tool that can automatically handle various tasks, such as email management, travel scheduling, and even programming assistance. This allows people to focus more on other important tasks in their work.
If you're still confused, imagine when you need to buy some fruit. Typically, you would open a mobile app, search, fill in the address, confirm the order, and then pay. In the AI agent era, you only need to tell the AI agent to make a call, buy $30 worth of mangoes, and deliver them to your home. The AI agent will directly call the merchant and explain the specific requirements, and the user only needs to wait for the goods to arrive.
In the era of everything being AI-enabled, what kind of chemical reaction will occur when the cryptocurrency field is combined with AI? This exploration has become the latest market trend. Apart from the past projects that focused on the OpenAI Ultraman concept, such as WLD and the AI data analysis Arkham, the on-chain AI agent concept has now become the latest trend.
From the initial AI+MEME representatives like GOAT, to the subsequent evolution into the application exploration track, such as Twitter reply comments, and even including coin price analysis like AIXBT, as well as AI-influenced music content generation like Zerebro.
The third type is the platforms like Virtual and Clanker, which are built with Launchpad functionality to create a wealth effect. If these platforms can generate decent returns and have high-quality projects, they often form a good leading effect, as evidenced by Virtual's continuous new highs.
More possibilities include the combination of AI agents and DeFi, such as automated investment, smart alerts, and improved returns. USV co-founder Fred Wilson even predicted that in 2025, the chief AI robot of his fund will go out of control, gain access to USV's cryptocurrency wallets, and start seed investments, one of which will eventually generate a handsome return.
However, at present, the AI agents in the cryptocurrency field are still mainly focused on hype, and their actual specific applications still need to be observed and explored.
How do industry leaders and institutions view it?
The AI craze has also made many institutions and investors optimistic about its future development. Binance Labs expects that in 2025, industries that have performed poorly, such as gaming, ZK technology, and privacy solutions, may make a comeback as they transition from development to production, thereby supporting new use cases. In addition, existing narratives such as DeSci, RWA/stablecoins, and AI agents should continue to perform well with strong momentum.
Ryan Rasmussen, research director at Bitwise, predicts that the tokens launched by AI agents will lead to an even bigger meme coin frenzy than in 2024.
Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly, and David Pakman, managing director at CoinFund, point out that the greatest value of AI for the cryptocurrency field is in improving development efficiency, as software development is still the core of the cryptocurrency field. However, Pakman is relatively optimistic about the future of AI agents, believing that cryptocurrencies can provide an ideal payment infrastructure for AI agents.
