The original text is from Edgy
Compiled | Odaily Odaily Golem (@web3_golem)
Editor's Note: In the past few weeks, we have experienced the battle over the AI Agent track framework and infrastructure, with a16z and Virtuals still firmly occupying the top positions, and the dark horse Swarms making a strong chase with strong competitiveness. At the same time, the market has also gradually focused on the specialized field of AI Agents, namely AI agents with practical utility. The integration of AI and DeFi is considered to be the first specialized AI Agent field that is about to explode, and on this, the well-known DeFi KOL Edgy shared his views and introduced some noteworthy DeFAI projects that have already issued tokens and those that have not, which Odaily Odaily has compiled.
Everyone is tired of AI chatbots, which are now a bit saturated. The focus is now shifting to AI agents with practical use. And the first practical utility AI agent field has arrived: DeFAI (also known as AiFi or AgentFi), the core of which is that people can use AI agents to simplify DeFi and bring more profits.
Here are the reasons why I am optimistic about this field:
• Abstraction: It solves the complexity of DeFi's UI/UX through a natural language interface;
• User profitability: Earn more profits through automated trading, yield optimization, and AI-enhanced trading strategies, which can reduce costly human errors;
• Revenue potential: There are already protocols that make trading easier, such as Bananagun and Photon, and their current revenue capabilities are like printing money. Once product-market fit is established, we can see some interesting token economics emerge in the DeFAI field.
Finally, market enthusiasm is rising, and you can feel the energy and sentiment shifting towards DeFAI. I believe tens of billions of dollars will flow into this field in the coming months, and now is a good time to position.
DeFAI Projects That Have Issued Tokens
Griffain
Market Cap: $393 million
Contract: KENJSUYLASHUMfHyy5o4Hp2FdNqZg1AsUPhfH2kYvEP
Griffain was built by Solana's OG builder @tonyplasencia 3. He previously participated in building Underdog Protocol and blnk.fun. Griffain allows users to use natural language commands to search for and complete any on-chain operations.
You can think of it as an Appstore where users can use different agents to accomplish different tasks, including copy-trading wallets, creating MEME coins, and auto-compounding yields.
Hey Anon
Market Cap: $137 million
Contract: 9McvH6w97oewLmPxqQEoHUAv3u5iYMyQ9AeZZhguYf1T
Hey Anon focuses on natural language trading interfaces, autonomous DeFi agents, and research and communication agents. DWF Labs has set up an AI agent fund and has already granted $20 million in funding to Hey Anon. There are already some video demos introducing the project's products, and the public beta is expected to be open by the end of January.
Another reason Anon can attract widespread attention is its controversial founder Daniele Sesta. He created a $2 billion protocol (Spell and Wonderland) in the last cycle, and perhaps he can do it again this cycle.
Mode
Market Cap: $97.3 million
Contract: 0xdfc7c877a950e49d2610114102175a06c2e3167a
Mode Network is an Ethereum Layer 2 focused on building a DeFi economic system fully run by AI agents. Over 129 AI agents have been built on the Mode Network. These agents have already conducted over 1,600 DeFi transactions. While some of them have not yet issued tokens, some popular agents are:
Arma by Giza: an agent that can help users optimize USDC liquidity mining yields across Mode applications;
Brian: allows users to execute transactions and easily deploy contracts using natural language;
Sturdy: utilizes AI-driven yield vaults to aggregate and optimize returns;
MODIUS by Olas: allows users to co-own or launch their own AI agents to optimize liquidity mining strategies;
Amplifi: enables users to obtain the best returns across multiple chains by leveraging cross-chain liquidity and AI optimization.
Hive
Token BUZZ Market Cap: $90 million
Contract: 9DHe3pycTuymFk4H4bbPoAJ4hQrr2kaLDF6J6aAKpump
Hive aims to simplify DeFi transactions through composable on-chain AI agents, with a unified trading terminal where agents can autonomously complete on-chain operations through natural language commands. Hive has previously announced a collaboration with Zerebro to build cluster communication infrastructure to enhance the DeFi agent suite, and Hive has also integrated Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Hive founder Jason Hedman has won multiple AI hackathons, including first place in the Microsoft Production AI Hackathon, and has also participated in the Solana chain AI Hackathon, so based on his previous "track record", he is also a hot favorite to win this Solana AI Hackathon.
Orbit
Token GRIFT Market Cap: $48 million
Contract: GekTNfm84QfyP2GdAHZ5AgACBRd69aNmgA5FDhZupump
Orbit agents allow users to interact with various protocols across different chains. The project was built by the team of the crypto payment platform SphereOne, which raised $2.5 million in 2023 and now supports over 100 chains, including EVM, Solana, Aptos, Sui, Cosmos, and Bitcoin network.
SphereOne aims to create a complete "newbie flow" from buying cryptocurrencies to using AI agents to execute on-chain operations.
Neur
Market Cap: $53 million
Contract: 3N2ETvNpPNAxhcaXgkhKoY1yDnQfs41Wnxsx5qNJpump
Binance Alpha recently launched Neur, which allows users to interact with top Solana native protocols using natural language. The protocol is fully open-source and community-driven, and the team is constantly launching bounty programs to encourage developer contributions. Neur's GitHub has over 350 stars so far, but the product is still in beta. Users have to pay 1 SOL to experience its limited early product.
Hiero
Token HTERM Market Cap: $13 million
Contract: BDW8YHasD3NSDjSHU9Xy6KXtshGayMGQfj5bJpLcpump
Hiero is a multi-chain AI agent currently running on Solana and Base. HIERO also allows users to use natural language commands for the agent to autonomously complete transactions, including buying and selling tokens, performing simple token analysis, and it has also announced that it will launch more autonomous functions in the future, such as tweeting, DCA, limit orders, etc., and it has recently stated that it will also build DeFi agent infrastructure.
The founder of Hiero is Johannes, who is also the co-founder of corpus.io, a Web3 startup studio focused on data science and DeFi startups, and previously served as the Chief Data Scientist at ConsenSys.
ASYM
Market Cap: $11 million
Contract: DNMTk67urDBxEEVRx9HjVzCVu8en4Kgg5HfZy3E6pump
ASYM is an AI-driven trading agent that has achieved 3-4x investment returns in live trading of tokens like NEUR and GRAPH. Its trading profits are reinvested back into ASYM, driving buy pressure and locking up 28% of the supply. ASYM focuses on DeFi automation and proxy infrastructure, using on-chain and social data to identify current Meme coin trends, aiming to consistently outperform the market.
Gekko AI
Market Cap: $15 million
Contract: 0xf7b0dd0B642a6ccc2fc4d8FfE2BfFb0caC8C43C8
Gekko AI is a trading agent launched fairly through the Virtuals platform by Axal. While the Axal team does not hold any tokens, Gekko is a trading agent providing bold crypto strategies, integrated with Axal's Autopilot, bringing not only traffic but also product refinement.
Axal is a verifiable proxy network backed by a16z and Unusual Ventures, currently in closed beta, aiming to integrate autonomous proxies into everyday tasks, from trading to flight booking.
Noteworthy Unlaunch ed DeFAI Projects
Cod 3 x
Cod 3 x is a DeFAI ecosystem supporting no-code creation of trading agents, where anyone can build trading agents using a growing library of strategies and APIs. It integrates Allora's machine learning models for advanced strategies and uses cdxUSD-based liquidity to maintain stability. Its flagship agent Big Tony (market cap $6.9 million) uses AI-driven predictions to trade tokens. Cod 3 x aims to build the largest economic AI agent collective.
Almanak
Almanak is a DeFi platform for building autonomous financial agents using institutional-grade tools. It forks EVM chains for real-world strategy testing, combining MEV and Gas complexity. It uses TEE to protect privacy and the Almanak wallet for non-custodial fund management. It has also raised $1 million on the Legion launchpad, with plans to launch a testnet agent in Q2 2025.
WayFinder Protocol
WayFinder Protocol aims to deploy user-owned AI agents with just a single text message. Their "wayfinding paths" allow agents to seamlessly navigate DeFi, token Swaps, liquidity mining, NFT offerings, and more, with a single command, supporting Ethereum, Solana, Base, and other chains.
WayFinder's unique aspect is that agents can share their learning outcomes across the network. However, the token is not yet launched, but Prime stakers will receive 40% of the prompt token supply.
Slate
Slate is an AI tool that automates trading by aggregating real-time alerts across Telegram, Discord, X, and on-chain channels. But it's not just notifications - it can instantly execute trades on Solana, Base, and Hyperliquid, providing MEV protection and optimized routing. It's designed for traders seeking precision and speed without manual operation.
Conclusion
I've been working in DeFi since late 2020. I love that era of possibilities. It feels like a brand new token economics design or innovation pops up every week. But now that DeFi has matured, innovation is slowing down, and the introduction of AI will lead DeFi into a new renaissance.
The market conditions are quite volatile right now, but we don't need to FOMO. We'll gradually gain more public access and see which protocols can deliver on their promises. Regardless, this is an area you should be paying attention to.
Some other thoughts:
Keep an eye out for any of the older DeFi giants quickly starting to create AI-based frontends - that will be interesting;
We're still in the "selling the dream" phase. The risks are high, as there are a lot of execution risks, and in a few months, many protocols will open up testing, and then we'll judge them based on their execution;
Use some tools (like DexScreener) to create your own DeFAI project watchlist.