Author: YB
Compiled by: ShenChao TechFlow
Soon, all organizations will need to establish on-chain entities. Compared to traditional limited liability companies (LLCs), on-chain businesses are not only more efficient but also can be launched faster.
In the past month, I have developed a new habit: whenever I come across a tweet related to AI agents on X (formerly Twitter), I save it for further research later. In the past two weeks, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: many messages about agents seem to have transcended metaverse frameworks like Truth Terminal or Zerebro.
For example:
Stripe released a technical document on how to integrate payment functionality into agent workflows.
Balaji retweeted Aravind Srinivas' tweet, which proposed developing a Perplexity browser that views agents as core functionality.
OtCo demonstrated how an agent can register an LLC in Delaware.
Circle released a detailed tutorial guiding developers on how to integrate the USDC stablecoin into various agents.
A few days ago, Satya Nadella demonstrated Copilot Workspace, which is the first integrated development environment (IDE) for agents.
At first glance, these seem to be the usual discussions of agents by large tech companies, which is not surprising. After all, agents have become a hot field that many companies are eager to explore.
But this is precisely my point - for the first time, I feel the crypto industry and mainstream tech industries are beginning to discuss the same theme. Although their entry points are different, they are essentially exploring the possibilities of agents.
The crypto industry has always seemed somewhat 'rebellious' to ordinary people; even within the tech community, the crypto industry is often seen as the 'annoying little brother.' This is not without basis - the various outrageous news stories produced by our industry are simply too numerous, even insiders have to admit that some trends are indeed puzzling.
Through these changes, I see a new trend: the crypto industry is gradually integrating into mainstream tech discussions, and agents may become a bridge between the two.
The past narrative of the crypto industry often lacked intersection with other tech fields in the short term. For example, a top large language model (LLM) engineer seems to have no connection to a 10k PFP (profile picture NFT project). And why would a scientist researching longevity be interested in new types of yield-bearing assets?
Overall, the narrative of the crypto industry has mainly attracted two types of people: artists and quantitative analysts.
However, signs are finally emerging that this limitation may be broken!
Although we still have a long way to go towards this goal, I personally have seen a glimmer of hope.
Currently, there are three key topics worthy of in-depth discussion:
Relaxation of crypto regulation
Accelerationist bubble
Crypto-driven paradigm figure
Next, we will elaborate one by one.
Relaxation of crypto regulation
This week, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announced he will resign on January 20 next year. If you know a little about the crypto industry, you will understand that this news is as significant as Harry defeating Voldemort in (Harry Potter).
For the past four years, Gensler has been a major obstacle for the US crypto industry. He not only slowed the regulatory process but also took active suppressive measures, putting immense pressure on this emerging sector. As Linda's tweet stated - many companies, including Coinbase and Consensys, had to spend hundreds of millions lobbying and fighting in Washington to survive.
And now, the potential candidates to succeed him seem to have completely changed direction.
No matter who ultimately takes over, one thing is certain: the Trump administration clearly hopes to support the crypto industry more than the previous administration. Frankly, this goal is not difficult to achieve.
WSJ
In my election week article (Where Did Fairshake PAC's $133 Million Go?), I mentioned that Bernie Moreno (Republican) received $40.1 million in donations in the Ohio Senate election, successfully defeating Sherrod Brown (Democrat).
Moreno's victory is a landmark event for the entire crypto industry. He has long been an advocate for crypto technology, whereas Brown has been one of the major obstacles to crypto regulatory reform in the Senate.
This series of changes may herald a more favorable policy environment for the crypto industry.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that the discussion around the 'U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve' is itself shocking! Three months ago, if someone mentioned this concept, I might have thought it was a fantasy. However, with the rapid development of the crypto industry in recent weeks, such as the continuous rise in Bitcoin prices and the surge in inflows into BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF, we cannot help but seriously consider: the federal government might actually include Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
So how will these regulatory advancements help the crypto industry bridge the gap and enter broader tech application fields?
In the past, many developers in other tech fields were skeptical about the reliability of crypto technology. They worried that the volatility of this technology could pose potential legal risks to their core projects, such as lawsuits and fines, thus shying away from integrating crypto technology.
However, as the new government gradually embraces crypto technology and establishes clearer regulatory rules, developers in other fields will also feel more confident exploring the application of crypto technology strategically.
Vitalik succinctly summarized this point in a screenshot: the lack of regulatory clarity for serious projects severely hinders developers' acceptance of crypto technology. And those who have not deeply engaged with the crypto ecosystem may form their impressions of crypto through some exaggerated news headlines (like the millionaire stories of Moodeng and Bonk). This clearly does not effectively attract top engineers like Anthropic to join the crypto industry, right?
I hope that in the next four years, supportive politicians will do their utmost to make the adoption of crypto technology simpler and safer, thereby attracting more talent from outside the circle.
Accelerationist bubble
Last week, I read Packy's article (The Tump Bubble). In it, he proposed that the next four years will be a time for encouraging risk-taking, nurturing visionary ideas, and teeming with futuristic optimism.
Although I do not fully agree with his viewpoint - some parts of the article seem overly optimistic or even exaggerated, Packy makes an important argument: our way of thinking about 'progress' is undergoing an 'atmospheric shift.' Future developments will be faster, crazier, and more experimental.
This phenomenon has been termed the 'inflection bubble' by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Harris.
The so-called inflection bubble refers to a state where 'investors believe the future will be significantly different from the past.' Think of the internet bubble. If you believe fundamental changes will happen in the future, you will invest in those assets most likely to benefit from this change.
To better illustrate this concept of 'actively shaping the future,' I quote Truth Terminal's explanation.
If you don't want to read the entire article, here are the core points you need to remember:
I am not saying that 90% of current meme coins will succeed - rather, this form remains very novel. Only when the design of tokenomics becomes more sophisticated can we see meme coins truly compete with traditional 'quality investments.'
Truth Terminal
With rapid developments in energy, AI, biosciences, and gaming, the combination of AI agents and crypto tokens could enhance the efficiency of trying out new ideas tenfold.
Imagine if you were a senior nuclear engineer who has worked in the energy industry for decades, wanting to realize a bold vision. The traditional path might require you to spend months convincing venture capitalists to support your idea, assemble a team, build a community, etc.; the whole process is both lengthy and filled with uncertainty.
But you can also choose the following approach:
Write a white paper clearly outlining your background, theory, plan, and vision;
Deploy a 'brand agent' on Twitter to help spread your ideas;
Raise initial funds through Token issuance;
Leverage the power of agents to build a community of core supporters (for example, through social rewards);
Recruit team members from the community or attract more talent through bounty tasks.
I know you might say, 'YB, aren't you describing the ICO craze of 2017?'
Yes, you are right.
But I believe that ICOs may have just appeared at the wrong time.
Today, with the improvement of crypto infrastructure, a more favorable regulatory environment, the gradual maturation of the market, and widespread institutional participation, these changes lay the foundation for the success of similar models.
Of course, this framework may still spawn a lot of worthless projects. But how is this different from the 'power law' often mentioned in venture capital? After all, the vast majority of projects fail, while a few successful ones create tremendous returns; this phenomenon is common in any field.
If the market environment in 2017 was not enough to support this model, then by 2024, we might see some early DePin (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) and DeSci (Decentralized Science) projects starting to emerge.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, this is the first time I feel that the focus of the crypto industry intersects with the interests of other tech fields.
Not only agents but also topics like bioscience research and GPU allocation are beginning to gain attention.
Bitget
I haven't delved deeply into pump.science, but it’s not surprising that it has become a hot topic in the current field. Of course, there are still some issues behind this model that need to be addressed, such as extreme speculation, legitimacy, and security (I believe those engaged in the crypto industry are well aware of this).
However, it is worth noting that there is tremendous enthusiasm for the concept of 'using crypto financing to support non-crypto-related tasks.' This trend may signal that crypto technology is gradually moving towards broader practical applications.
The core point here is that since the early successes of Kickstarter in the 2010s, the model of crowdfunding ideas has proven to be effective. Compared to making decisions in a closed boardroom, leveraging the wisdom and support of the crowd is undoubtedly advantageous, as people are eager to participate!
However, the success of this model may require the continuous development and accumulation of technology and social consensus. And now, it seems that various conditions are forming a 'perfect storm': positive changes in the political environment, the gradual maturity of crypto and AI technologies, and the creative explosion brought by the accelerationist bubble.
However, even so, I still believe that a key catalytic factor is missing for this concept to be taken seriously!
Crypto-driven paradigm
Recently, a highlight of Onchain AI and Goat meta is that it successfully 'absorbed' some AI and large language model (LLM) developers into the crypto field.
To be honest, who would have predicted that this interview with Threadguy and Andy Ayery would become a hot topic?
If you think about it carefully, this is indeed an astonishing phenomenon.
Additionally, it is interesting to see Beff Jezos cheering for his friend Shaw. Shaw is developing the ai16z and Eliza frameworks, which are a startup platform designed specifically for agentic coins. The focus here is not on Beff himself, but rather on a developer deeply involved in the AI field, who has established a connection with the crypto space through experiments on Onchain AI conducted by LLM developers.
I want to emphasize that in the coming year, we will see some individuals from different tech fields formally embrace crypto technology and demonstrate the efficiency of the agent + token model in building major projects.
Once a few successful cases appear, others will undoubtedly be inspired to start realizing their own ideas.
What we are seeing now with these Token releases and experiments is just a 'small trial.'
Just a few successful examples can trigger a crowd effect.
It can be said that... it started with slow accumulation, followed by a sudden eruption!
That wraps up today’s sharing.
I believe everyone has experienced a lot of busyness and challenges this past week, and I hope you can take some time this weekend to step outside and relax!