Author: Ignas, Crypto KOL
Compiled by: Felix, PANews
Forget the memecoin super cycle; AI Agents outperform everything, and much more. The following image compares the price performance of AI Agents with other narratives:
In the past 3 months, the overall market cap of AI Agents narratives has increased by 7000% (driven by new products), while Memecoins have only increased by 15.19%.
As shown in the image below, considering the volatility of newly launched AI tokens, AI Agents have performed excellently over the past 30D, rising by 75%, while Memecoins have dropped by 25%.
There are several reasons to compare Memecoins with AI Agents:
First, the rise of the memecoin craze was driven by low float, high FDV VC tokens. Most AI Agents keep these cautionary tales in mind and launch with little to no VC funding.
More importantly, many AI Agents tokens are launched on platforms like Pump.fun or AI incubation sites like Virtuals in a manner similar to memecoins. They start trading at a lower market cap, allowing early buyers to profit from the uptick. Without memecoins, the performance of AI Agents could be entirely different.
Secondly, AI Agents possess a distinct, self-updating culture, even having a 'cult meme,' along with some practicality.
Just like aixbt continuously adapts to today's narratives and themes. They are also native cryptocurrencies, while OG memecoins are a culture imported from Web2 (with a few exceptions, such as $PENGU).
In contrast, OG memecoins stagnate and require continuous support from human communities to remain relevant/vibrant.
As crypto KOL redphone said, 'Nothing is more exhausting than memecoins.'
Finally, AI Agents have successfully captured market attention from memecoins, resulting in a corresponding liquidity shift. The author previously witnessed the change in one of their wallets:
A Degen hot wallet that trades freely and chases popular narratives has completely shifted its portfolio from pure memecoins to AI Agents without realizing it. The returns of this wallet have increased significantly, but if it still held those memecoins, the return situation would be grim.
So, is this an AI Agents super cycle or merely a narrative rotation?
Crypto KOL redphone mentioned in a 2025 prediction that 'ordinary' memecoins will launch proxy mascots/ambassador robots (or memecoins will slowly decline until they become insignificant).
This is a bold prediction, but if it happens, one shouldn't be surprised.
Related Reading: Year-End Review of the Crypto Market: 25 Predictions for 2025 and 23 Most Promising Coins