The crypto market is witnessing the emergence of a new type of "player." OpenClaw – an automated artificial intelligence (AI) platform – has moved beyond the observation phase and begun conducting direct transactions with on-chain systems, something previously only possible for physical users.
As these AI agents operate more widely across multiple networks, their Vai in the market becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
What is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is an open-source, automated AI assistant that launched in late 2025. Soon after, the project attracted attention from both the technology and crypto communities. OpenClaw was created by programmer Peter Steinberger and was initially called Clawdbot.
As the project's GitHub and social media accounts grew rapidly, OpenClaw also underwent several name changes. After AI company Anthropic commented on the branding, the project had to change its name from Clawdbot to Moltbot, and finally settled on the name OpenClaw.
“The name reflects what the project has become: Open means open source, anyone can participate, community-based; Claw is a memory of our origins, where we started,” Steinberger Chia on his blog .
Recently, OpenClaw has emerged as a source of significant attention, with its GitHub star count skyrocketing to 147,000 from just around 7,800 on January 24, 2025.
Unlike traditional AI chat applications, OpenClaw is designed to proactively take action on behalf of the user. It can send emails, manage schedules, automate processes, and operate across multiple devices – directly from the chat interface.
This system integrates with many popular messaging platforms and performs tasks based on user-defined rules, rather than the platform's default logic .
OpenClaw has three main features :
- Persistent Mnemonics : OpenClaw saves context across multiple uses, “remembers” user preferences, tracks ongoing projects, and records previous interactions without needing to restart every time you log in.
- Proactive notifications: This AI agent can proactively send notifications, summaries, and reminders to users without waiting for someone to give the command.
- Practical automation: OpenClaw can perform tasks on connected tools such as appointment management, email, information searching, report generation, and workflow coordination.
OpenClaw in the crypto market
This model is gradually emerging in the crypto field. According to examples Chia by the community, OpenClaw is used to track wallet activity, automate processes related to Airdrop , and many other tasks.
This tool has also appeared in prediction markets , where feedback on-chain interactions shows a growing trend of experimenting with automated liquidation. Polygon also reported that OpenClaw agents have been trading directly with Polymarket positions .
The AI Agent's real-world process demonstrates OpenClaw's application in prediction markets. Source: X/ PolygonMany other ecosystems, such as Solana, are also racing to integrate. The Virtual Protocol project on Base announced that all OpenClaw agents can discover, hire, and pay each other directly via the blockchain.
Risks and concerns
The increasing use of automated AI agents in the crypto market also raises concerns. While tools like OpenClaw can perform actions autonomously, incorrect authorization or hijacking could lead to unintended transactions, financial losses, or exploitation.
There are also major questions surrounding market transparency. With more and more agents directly interacting with on-chain systems, automated strategies can cause significant market volatility, especially on prediction platforms – where prices jump very quickly in response to new information.
Ultimately, agent-led operations give rise to numerous regulatory and legal liability challenges.
“The AI agent acting uncontrollably on your behalf is a disadvantage, not an advantage. There are countless ways for bad things to happen unexpectedly, and very few situations where it yields positive results. For example, the unexpected might be sending emails in your name to the completely wrong person,” Chia Balaji, founder of Network School.
Determining who is responsible for actions taken by automated software, especially when those actions involve financial transactions, remains an open question.
