Source: Talk Li Talk Outside
It seems that various AI chatbots are becoming increasingly common these days, and when something gradually enters a state of aesthetic fatigue, people often hope to find the next substitute topic. In the previous article of Talk Li Talk Outside, we mentioned DeFi3.0 and AI Agents. So what would happen if we put DeFi and AI together?
Recently, more and more people have started to mention the concept of DeFAI, which is also called AiFi or AgentFi. Regardless of what it's called, this is a concept that tries to combine DeFi and AI, attempting to simplify DeFi operations or processes 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:
- AI agents can be used to solve the complexity problem of DeFi.
- Automated trading and yield optimization can generate more profits.
- Trading strategies can be enhanced to reduce some human (emotional) errors.
- Existing trading bots (such as BananaGun) can be empowered 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, Farming, Lending/Borrowing, and even achieve cross-platform automated operations.
Currently, if we filter from the existing narratives of AI and AI Agents, we can actually filter out some projects that match the concept of DeFAI. Here are a few project examples (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 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 in the 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 have just been 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 protocol's products are currently in internal testing and have not yet 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 token price trend, with the price surging 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 Non-Fungible Tokens (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 interactions with more than 100 blockchains and 200 protocols (from EVM to Solana).
The 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: An intelligent agent focused on automating MemeCoin trading, using on-chain and social data to discover MemeCoin trends. Its token was officially launched on December 7, 2024, and 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 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 intelligent 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 chain 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 chains 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 supply, which is likely the token of the Wayfinder protocol.
However, it is important to note that the 10 DeFAI projects we listed above are for discussion and learning purposes only, and not as investment advice. Please be responsible for your own wallet, and do your own research (DYOR).
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, which essentially belong to the AI+LLM 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, but the active involvement of entities like DWFlabs suggests that the market may indeed need to create more hot spots for continuous hype.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if 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.
