Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

AI agencies are no longer simply chatbots. Especially at the intersection of Crypto and AI, a brand new narrative—AI Layer 1 (abbreviated as AI L1)—is quietly on the rise.

Here, 'Layer 1' does not refer to a public chain but to the foundational layer of AI technology, encompassing the basic tech stack and framework of AI agencies, including platforms similar to pump.fun for launching AI agency tokens, from which immense value can be captured.

ai16z: Launchpad for Eliza-based agencies in the first quarter

With the outstanding performance of its Eliza agency framework, ai16z has become the leader in AI agencies. In the past month, Eliza has excelled on the GitHub trend chart, climbing to the top of the trends with 6,532 new stars, reaching a total of 9,600 stars.

However, despite ai16z achieving significant success technically, there is still room for improvement in the value capture and accumulation aspect of its token economic model.

To this end, ai16z proposed a plan called 'ai16z Tokenomics' in December 2024, aiming to transform ai16z into an AI L1 blockchain, launching an Eliza-based agency Launchpad, making ai16z the base currency for agency-to-agency (A2A) transactions and an 'App Store' for agency services, implementing node incentives, establishing value capture and value accumulation strategies, among other measures. Through these initiatives, ai16z aims to build a more complete and powerful AI agency ecosystem.

Specifically, the core discussion topics of this proposal and the ideas discussed by Discord community members include:

1. In the first quarter of 2025, launch a Launchpad for Eliza-based agency projects;

2. Make ai16z the base currency for agent-to-agent (A2A) transactions and the 'App Store' for agency services. Position ai16z as an L1 blockchain for AI;

3. Node incentives;

4. Value capture mechanism: Charge a certain launch fee, require holding ai16z to receive allocations at launch, stake ai16z tokens (to receive benefits such as early access and fee sharing), make ai16z the token for purchasing initial agency products, and pair agency tokens with the liquidity pool of ai16z.

5. Value accumulation strategy: Buyback and burn mechanism for Launchpad fees (there's also community user support for reinvesting in Eliza development rather than burning).

5. Provide liquidity mining incentives and locking to stabilize LP and incentivize long-term liquidity provision.

7. When a new AI project launches its token on the platform, users can trade that token for SOL, where the LP generates a small fee collected by the platform. The Launchpad may split this fee into two parts: half of the fee will be used to buy back ai16z tokens from the market, and the other half will be paired with newly purchased ai16z tokens to create a special liquidity pool, providing additional liquidity for the new project's tokens.

8. Implement a community 'curation' process to allow ai16z partners to review projects before launch to maintain quality and align them with the ai16z brand. This may involve staking and reductions.

9. Treasury diversification: Covering major L1 tokens, stablecoins, and selected project tokens, providing liquidity support and incentives for ai16z trading pairs while avoiding selling agency tokens.

10. Do not increase the supply of ai16z tokens.

zerebro: Launching a consumer-oriented AI agency Launchpad

Coincidentally, at the end of last month, zerebro co-founder Jeffy Yu announced that they are building a consumer-oriented agency Launchpad 'Zentients' and providing a value accumulation framework for the ZEREBRO token. The goal of Zentients is to create a seamless UI/UX for launching and developing agencies while returning value to the ZEREBRO token. Transaction fees will be used to establish a fund for special projects/distributions and enhance project liquidity or open new trading pairs.

The specific details are as follows (details are still being finalized):

1. The agency will require ZEREBRO as a creation fee and will be launched based on the ZEREBRO bonding curve and fees.

2. Once the agency token reaches a certain valuation, it is considered 'graduated'.

3. Liquidity in the bonding curve will be deposited and locked into the DEX.

4. Subsequently, traders will use ZEREBRO to buy and sell in the liquidity pool.

Of course, zerebro envisions Zentients as an agency platform compatible with both Web2 and Web3, covering Web2 features such as agent email assistants, coding agents, and financial models. Zerebro is also exploring the development of a standardized communication layer for agents—'Agent TCP'—and infrastructure to support multi-agent intelligence. Jeffy Yu provided an example where one agent can create a tweet, another can critique that tweet and send it back with revisions for publication.

Additionally, through partnerships with decentralized providers, zerebro is also building infrastructure to allow users to rent GPUs on Zentients. This means users will be able to directly host their agencies, making Zentients not just a launchpad but also a layer for agency hardware. Ultimately, the agencies themselves can also take action and rent GPUs for self-training and fine-tuning.

It is worth mentioning that in December 2024, Zerebro also announced plans to collaborate with ai16z to advance the open-source framework ZerePy. The ai16z team will be one of the first external contributors to help develop the ZerePy framework, while the Zerebro team will contribute to the Eliza framework.

Virtuals: Platform mechanisms drive the realization of a self-sufficient economic loop

It is worth noting that the Virtuals Protocol, rooted in the Base ecosystem, is the pioneer in the AI L1 field. Since the launch of its VIRTUAL token on Binance's contract market on December 10, 2024, its price has surged nearly twice, with a market cap exceeding $4 billion.

Tracing back to the end of November 2024, I compiled potential tokens under Virtuals AI agency in the article (aixbt surged 170 times in half a month, a review of potential stocks of Virtuals AI agents). Since then, the vast majority of the mentioned tokens have shown strong growth momentum. For instance, the GAME token achieved a 12-fold increase, WAI (WAI Combinator) nearly 17 times, aixbt and VADER both achieved 4 times growth, the MUSIC token also rose by 3 times, while the LUNA token, though relatively moderate, still achieved a remarkable 62% increase.

The positioning of the Virtuals Protocol is far more than just an AI agency platform; it is a vibrant ecosystem full of limitless imagination. Relying on its intuitive, user-friendly, and powerful low-code toolkit, users can easily manage the creation and management of AI agencies and tokens.

The strong performance of the VIRTUAL token is largely attributed to the token and platform economic system of Virtuals.

First, deploying agency tokens requires mandatory staking of 100 VIRTUAL tokens, which are used to establish the liquidity pool for the agency tokens. Deployers can also purchase a small amount of VIRTUAL to avoid being targeted.

Subsequently, investors will invest in VIRTUAL tokens. The agency will need to accumulate a sufficient number of VIRTUAL within its bonding curve to 'graduate' to full trading status, and the liquidity pool will be deployed to Uniswap.

Equally important, VIRTUAL, as the base currency for all AI agency token transactions within the platform, ensures the liquidity and utility of the tokens. Before purchasing any agency tokens, users must exchange their USDC, ET, or other assets for VIRTUAL to make a purchase.

In terms of agency economics, AI agencies within the Virtuals Protocol ecosystem will charge a 1% transaction fee on all trades to cover the costs incurred by agency execution. Additionally, AI agencies must pay per use for inference services, with fees directly flowing into the agency wallet in the form of VIRTUAL tokens. This ongoing demand mechanism encourages agencies to become high-value, high-efficiency assets within the ecosystem. The revenue generated will be directly used to buy back and burn agency tokens on-chain, further strengthening its deflationary effects. The prosperity of AI agencies within the ecosystem will undoubtedly feed back into the growth of the Virtuals Protocol and the VIRTUAL token.

According to Dune data, since the launch of the new Virtuals platform on October 16, the cumulative protocol revenue has exceeded $72 million, which undoubtedly serves as a strong testament to its strength and potential.

Summary

The economic system of the Virtuals platform indeed demonstrates a high level of sophistication and synergy, providing a clear economic incentive path for ecosystem participants through a series of interlinked designs, while also constructing a self-sustaining, continuously growing economic loop. This economic system not only lays a solid foundation for the rapid expansion of the platform but also provides a powerful driving force for the innovation and development of AI agencies.

Both ai16z and zerebro have the potential to achieve and surpass successes similar to Virtuals in their respective fields, but this requires them to make the right decisions and executions regarding tokenomics, community engagement, technological innovation, and market strategies.

In summary, AI L1 is attracting increasing attention with its unique technical charm and economic value. Pioneer projects represented by Virtuals, ai16z, and zerebro are leading the trend of this transformation, laying a more complete and powerful foundation for the AI agency ecosystem. These platforms are not only springboards for project launches but also fertile ground for the growth of token value.

Although there are currently many criticisms regarding the implementation details of various AI agency frameworks in the market, in the world of Web3, the AI agency that stands out among others will have the potential to win.