As early as October, Virtuals had launched the concept of tokenizing AI agents. This was a bold move, but at the time, most people didn't pay attention because it was too far ahead.
Now, Virtuals has brought 50x, 100x returns to many agents, and suddenly everyone is paying attention.
The problem is, everyone is focused on the 50-100x returns. If you want similar outsized returns, you need to act early. You need strong conviction and patience to position yourself before others discover it.
If you enter now, you may see 5-10x returns - still stable, but far from the 50-100x returns early adopters achieved. But this doesn't mean it's too late, you need to have a strategic perspective. The "alpha" from two months ago is no longer alpha. The Virtuals ecosystem is now overcrowded, and the low-hanging fruit has already been picked.
What should you do now?
First, don't limit yourself to a single ecosystem. Base vs. Solana, Virtuals vs. ai16z - it doesn't matter, both ecosystems have opportunities. The key is to stay flexible and find value, not tribalism.
What should you look for in an agent?
Fundamentally, the key to a successful agent is uniqueness and utility. Without utility, the agent token behavior is like 95% of memecoin, becoming irrelevant after the hype cycle.
Agents need to have a unique product that provides tangible value. If the team truly understands the attention game, they can score extra points:
- They can create compelling narratives or stories around the agent
- Rapidly and consistently release new functionalities
- Actively cater to the community's needs
When these factors are in place, the agent has a chance to find product-market fit (PMF) and achieve product-market alignment, after which the teams that continuously execute and innovate (like aixbt) can dominate their niche and become pillars of the ecosystem.
Here are the narratives and utilities that CT currently values the most:
1. Finding Alpha
There is a huge demand for agents that provide trading signals and insights. For example, aixbt, which focuses on providing valuable alpha for users.
Other notable alpha agents:
- Rei: Provides comprehensive token and sentiment analysis with detailed charts
- Agent Scarlett: Focuses on token analysis, weighing pros and cons and providing insights
- 3σ: Covers comprehensive project segmentation and interpretation
- kwantxbt: Excels at technical analysis, provides trading assistants, can continuously monitor market dynamics, and provide real-time analysis and recommendations
- $TRUST: A perp agent that can set parameters like entry price, stop loss, etc.
2. Investing in DAOs
Hedge fund-style DAOs, executed by human or AI agents, using their capital to invest.
Examples:
- The daos.world ecosystem on Base
- VaderAI, WAI Combinator, sekoia_virtuals, aixcb on Virtuals
- The daos.fun ecosystem on Solana
The power of investing in DAOs comes from:
- Endorsement of high-quality agents
- Distribution channels for the investment portfolio projects
- Early and OTC token rounds, often leading to outsized returns
3. On-Chain Trading
On-chain trading is a narrative that resonates deeply with the CT crowd, as they love to see someone turn $1,000 into $1 million.
It's not just about the money, but the excitement of seeing someone work hard and succeed.
The first iteration of trading agents will leverage this energy. They will focus on portfolio growth, showcasing their frameworks and strategies in real-time. Although this is an early narrative, it is gradually taking shape among some players.
Examples:
- Gekko AI: A self-improving trading agent on Virtuals, utilizing Axal's infrastructure to deliver results.
- Big Tony: Built on Cod3x, focused on autonomous execution for professional trading.
- Project Plutus: Combines real-time analysis with automated DCA execution.
On-chain trading agents are expected to become a market focus in Q1/Q2 2025.
4. Developer-Centric Utility Tools
As ecosystems evolve, the demand for developer tools becomes crucial.
Examples:
- SOLENG: Monitors pull requests, performs preliminary reviews, and acts as an AI judge for hackathons
- H4CK Terminal: A white hat agent responsible for bounties and vulnerability checks
- CertaiK: Specialized in providing security audits for agents
5. Privacy and Confidentiality (TEE)
The Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) pioneered by Marvin Tong on Solana and Phala Network can enable fully autonomous agents.
Example use cases/cool experiments:
- aiPool's "Unruggable ICO" (where investors can send funds to a smart agent, which will calculate and distribute the corresponding ICO tokens in a secure environment)
- SPORE: TEE agents with genetic traits that are passed on to their descendants.
- Neural network experiments like DeepWorm.
Virtuals still doesn't have any TEE agents, so the first to launch will undoubtedly see their value skyrocket.
6. Gameplay Beyond Narratives
If you can predict future narratives early, you can achieve returns of 100x or more. This was the strategy when entering Virtuals with a market cap of less than $30 million.
Emerging narratives for 2025:
- DeFi agents
- NSFW agents (AI companions)
- Robotics
- Data
- Gamification of agents
- Collective/Swarm Intelligence
- Infrastructure
