In the crypto world, a new frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) agents is on the rise, yet it’s crucial to clear the misunderstanding—they aren’t exactly the AI agents one might perceive. A real AI agent, as defined by Google, is an application designed to achieve goals by making calculated decisions based on its environmental observations. Undeniably, the current crop of crypto AI agents doesn’t really qualify.
Despite the misleading label, these crypto entities, more suitably described as “wrapped LLMs” or “chatbots with memecoins attached,” have the potential to generate wealth if investors buy into the narrative. This concept closely mirrors how investors profited from the rise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) in 2020. Although DeFi hasn’t posed any substantial threat to traditional finance as projected initially, early believers made a fortune due to its momentous growth.
Like DeFi, AI agents currently contribute less than 1% to the total crypto market cap ($15 billion in value now). However, crypto history suggests AI agents might expand to capture a more considerable chunk of the market cap. Crypto investor Ejaaz Ahamadeen firmly believes this sector could multiply to be worth hundreds of billions in the long run.
Herein it’s also crucial to focus on the intrinsic value of the innovative component AI adds to the mix. Sam Altman, in his recent blog, predicted that by 2025, AI agents might start “joining the workforce,” dramatically impacting companies’ outputs. From an investment perspective, the tools and infrastructure supporting the AI agent ecosystem could be the picks and shovels for generating big profits. Two particular tokens—an infrastructure platform ai16z and Virtuals—already are showing promising trends worth billions. Whether AI agents will pay each other or benefit their token holders through fees is yet to be seen. However, the emerging narrative surely has the potential to stir up the next ‘big story.”