Source: Talk Li Talk Outside
It seems that all kinds of AI chatbots are becoming increasingly common these days, everywhere. When something gradually enters a state of aesthetic fatigue, people often hope to find the next alternative topic. In the article of Talk Li Talk Outside a few days ago, we mentioned DeFi3.0 and AI Agents. So what would happen if we put DeFi and AI together?
Recently, I've found that more and more people are starting to mention the concept of DeFAI, or some call it AiFi or AgentFi. Anyway, no matter what it's called, this is a concept that tries to combine DeFi and AI, attempting to simplify the operation or process of DeFi through artificial intelligence and thereby bring more potential profits.
At first glance, this also seems to be a good concept, and it also has a certain imagination space, such as:
- Can use AI agents to solve the complexity problem of DeFi.
- Can obtain more profits through automated trading and yield optimization.
- Can enhance trading strategies to reduce some human (emotional) errors.
- Can empower the existing trading bots (such as BananaGun) to create a better trading experience or more interesting token economics.
In short, DeFAI seems to be able to effectively handle various DeFi activities, including Swap (token exchange), Farming, Lending/Borrowing, and even achieve cross-platform automated operations.
Currently, if we filter from the existing narratives of AI, AI Agents and the like, we can actually filter out some projects that match the concept of DeFAI. Here are a few examples of projects (ranked by the latest market capitalization, and all projects are not investment recommendations):
The 1st project is Griffain (GRIFFAIN)
Griffain allows users to complete any on-chain operation using natural language instructions, not just at the trading level. We can simply understand it as an ecosystem where you can use different AI agents to complete different tasks, such as copying wallet transactions or even directly creating your own token (MemeCoin).
According to the latest data from Messari, the total market capitalization of DeFAI is currently less than $1 billion, and Griffain is currently in a leading position in terms of market capitalization. As shown in the figure below.
According to the CMC (CoinMarketCap) data platform, the current latest market capitalization of GRIFFAIN (the token was officially launched on November 3, 2024) is $368 million, as shown in the figure below.
The 2nd project is Hey Anon (ANON)
Hey Anon has been deployed on multiple chains, and they recently just deployed on Sonic. This protocol is an AI-driven DeFi protocol, with functions focused on natural language trading interfaces, autonomous DeFi agents, and research and communication agents, with the main purpose of simplifying interactions, aggregating real-time project data, and processing complex operations through natural language instructions.
It is said that the project has also received sponsorship from DWFlabs (a well-known market maker in the crypto field), as shown in the figure below. However, the product of this protocol is currently in internal testing and has not been officially launched, and the public test version is said to be open at the end of this month (January 2025).
According to the CMC data platform, the current latest market capitalization of ANON (the token was officially launched on December 22, 2024) is $141 million, as shown in the figure below. It may be due to the news of DWFlabs' sponsorship, and the recent integration of Aave's lending function by Hey Anon, these positive factors have directly reflected in its price trend, with the price rising about 8 times last week.
The 3rd project is Mode (MODE)
Mode is an L2 based on the OP Stack, with the main goal of building a DeFi economic ecosystem that is fully operated by AI agents. Currently, the protocol is trying to seize the opportunity of AI Agents, and its ecosystem has already built more than 100 AI Agents, providing various optimized Farming and trading functions.
According to the CMC data platform, the current latest market capitalization of MODE (the token was officially launched on May 7, 2024) is $94 million, as shown in the figure below.
The 4th project is neur (NEUR)
Neur aggregates LLM models (Large Language Model, such as the currently popular LLM model GPT-4 of ChatGPT), and is an open-source program designed for the Solana ecosystem. The product is still in the internal testing phase, and users can use the protocol to achieve seamless interaction with various DeFi protocols and NFTs through a smart interface.
According to the CMC data platform, the current latest market capitalization of NEUR (the token was officially launched on December 23, 2024) is $47 million, as shown in the figure below.
The 5th project is Orbit (GRIFT)
Orbit can be simply understood as a DeFi companion program, whose smart agents allow users to interact with multiple protocols on different chains. It currently supports interaction with more than 100 blockchains and 200 protocols (from EVM to Solana).
This protocol should be launched by the SphereOne team, which is a cross-chain crypto payment platform (with a clear Orbit entry point on its homepage). As shown in the figure below.
According to the CMC data platform, the current latest market capitalization of GRIFT (the token was officially launched on December 6, 2024) is $46 million, as shown in the figure below.
In addition to the 5 DeFAI projects listed above that have been included in CMC and have relatively high market capitalizations, there are also some other related projects that are worth paying attention to:
ASYM: A smart agent focused on automated MemeCoin trading, using on-chain and social data to discover MemeCoin trends. Its token was officially launched on December 7, 2024, and it currently has 7,200 Twitter followers, but has not yet been included in CMC. As shown in the figure below.
Gekko AI: This is a fair-launched trading agent created by Axal (Axal is a verifiable agent network supported by a16z and Unusual Ventures), and has been integrated with Axal's Autopilot. Its token was officially launched on December 20, 2024, and it currently has 4,700 Twitter followers, but has not yet been included in CMC. As shown in the figure below.
Cod3x: An infrastructure that combines DeFi and AI, providing no-code building tools to create automated DeFi strategy agents. The project's token has not yet been launched.
Almanak: A quantitative smart agent that uses TEE to protect privacy. The project's token has not yet been launched, but its website has already disclosed the corresponding token economics. As shown in the figure below.
WayFinder: An artificial intelligence protocol launched by Parallel (a well-known card-based blockchain game project under the Echelon Prime Foundation). Initially focused on use cases in the gaming environment, it has now caught up with the AI Agents trend, seemingly expanding its support for non-gaming use cases. Users can deploy their own AI agents by sending a text message or perform operations such as Swap, Farming, and Non-Fungible Token minting through natural language commands. It supports blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and Base. The project's token has not yet been launched, but they have introduced a staking reward activity for PRIME token holders, where PRIME holders can cache (similar to staking) to receive 40% of the PROMPT token supply, which is likely the token of the Wayfinder protocol.
However, it is important to note that the 10 DeFAI projects listed above are for discussion and learning purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. You must be responsible for your own wallet, and DYOR (Do Your Own Research).
Overall, the combination of DeFi and AI seems quite interesting, and many protocols in this direction are still in the testing phase, presenting both opportunities and risks. Most existing projects still rely on chat functions to simplify user task execution, such as processing user requests through specific keywords, essentially belonging to the AI+LLM (Large Language Model) trading bot category.
From a demand perspective, DeFAI appears to have some potential, but whether users will accept this approach remains to be seen. From a hype perspective, it is uncertain whether this concept will attract more community participation or people's FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), but the active involvement of entities like DWFlabs suggests that the market may indeed need to create more hot topics for sustained hype.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the traditional (established) leading DeFi projects decide to adopt this concept or collaborate with relevant DeFAI projects. If they do, the hype could quickly pick up, and the potential impact remains to be seen.
