Within the next year, we will see some people from different tech verticals truly embrace crypto technology and demonstrate the efficiency of the agent + token model in building large projects.
Written by: YB
Compiled by: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance
In the past month, I've developed a habit: whenever I come across posts related to AI agents on X (formerly Twitter), I mark them down for deeper research later.
Over the past two weeks, I noticed that many announcements about agents are not directly related to Truth Terminal or Zerebro meta.
Some examples include:
Stripe released documentation on integrating payment functionality into agent workflows.
Balaji retweeted Aravind Srinivas, who suggested developing a Perplexity browser that treats agents as first-class citizens.
OtCo demonstrated the process of an agent creating an LLC for its own needs in Delaware.
Circle has published a detailed tutorial guiding developers on how to integrate USDC into various agents.
Just a few days ago, Satya Nadella showcased Copilot Workspace—the first IDE that supports agents.
You might think this is nothing special, right?
After all, it's not surprising that tech giants are talking about agent technology. Almost everyone is paying attention to this!
But that's precisely my point—it's the first time I feel the crypto consumer circle is discussing the same thing as the entire tech industry. The form may be different, but the core is consistent.
The relationship between the crypto circle and the tech industry
The cryptocurrency circle has always seemed somewhat quirky to 'ordinary people.' Even in the tech world, cryptocurrency is like that 'unpopular little brother.' This impression is not unfounded: the crazy news from the crypto industry in the past has been so rampant that even insiders have had to admit that some trends are indeed a bit ridiculous.
The past crypto trends have had little intersection with other tech fields, at least in the short term.
For instance, how much correlation could there be between a top LLM (large language model) engineer and a 10k PFP (profile picture) project?
Or why would a scientist researching longevity care about new types of yield assets?
Overall, the narrative of cryptocurrency is more likely to attract artists and quantitative traders, while being relatively isolated from other tech fields.
But now, there’s finally an opportunity to break this cycle!
Although we are far from reaching that node, I personally can see 'the light at the end of the tunnel.' Here are three topics worth diving into:
Relaxation of crypto regulation
Accelerationist bubble
Crypto-driven exemplary cases
Let's explore them one by one.
Relax crypto regulation
This week, Gary Gensler, a commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced he will resign on January 20. If you have been in the crypto field for even a week, you understand the significance of this news, comparable to Harry Potter defeating Voldemort.
Over the past four years, Gensler has been the biggest bottleneck for the US crypto industry.
He not only delayed regulatory progress but actively attacked this emerging industry. As Linda's tweet mentioned, companies like Coinbase and Consensys had to spend hundreds of millions lobbying and fighting the government in Washington.
And now, the choices for his successor seem to be moving in the completely opposite direction.
Whoever takes over this position, one thing is clear: the Trump administration is determined to support the crypto industry more than the previous administration. Frankly, this threshold isn't high.
In the election week post I published (Where did Fairshake PAC's $133 million go?), I mentioned that Republican Bernie Moreno received $40.1 million in donations to defeat Democrat Sherrod Brown in the Ohio Senate race.
Moreno ultimately won, which is one of the significant victories for the entire crypto industry. He is a long-time supporter of cryptocurrency, while Brown is a massive obstacle to crypto regulation in the Senate.
Moreover, merely discussing the possibility of a US strategic Bitcoin reserve is already shocking enough!
Three months ago, if someone brought up this topic, I would have thought they were dreaming. But in recent weeks, with the rise in crypto prices and the surge in BlackRock ETF inflows, there has been a massive shift in momentum within the crypto industry. Suddenly, the idea that the federal government might include Bitcoin on its balance sheet has become something to take seriously.
So how do these regulatory messages affect crypto's ability to bridge the gap and enter the broader tech field?
In the past, many developers from other tech fields were cautious about the crypto industry, one major reason being the uncertainty of the US regarding crypto as a reliable technology.
Integrating such a highly volatile technology with the results of their lifetime of research seems unrealistic, as the legal risks (such as lawsuits or fines) are very real concerns.
But as the new government begins to embrace crypto technology and establish clear regulations, it won't be long before people in other industries feel comfortable enough to strategically explore the potential of crypto.
Vitalik summed it up well in this screenshot: the lack of regulatory clarity for serious projects has suppressed developers' motivation to adopt crypto technology.
For those who haven't been actively building in the ecosystem, they might learn about crypto through sensational news like Moodeng and Bonk millionaires.
Clearly, this is not the best way to promote and can't convince a genius engineer from Anthropic to dive into crypto, right?
I hope that in the next four years, politicians who support cryptocurrency will do their utmost to enable those outside of cryptocurrency to easily and safely adopt this technology.
Accelerationist bubble
Last week, I read Packy's article (The Trump Bubble), in which he suggested that the next four years will be a golden era of adventure, forward-thinking, and futurist optimism.
I must clarify that I do not fully agree with this article—some parts seem overly excited, even exaggerated. But Packy did raise some compelling points, especially about how we are about to see an 'atmospheric shift' in how we perceive progress. The world of the future will become faster, crazier, and more experimental.
This phenomenon has been referred to by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Harris as the inflection bubble.
The definition of the inflection bubble is: 'Investors believe the future will be drastically different from the past.' For example: the .com bubble. When you believe the future will be significantly different from the past, you'll choose to invest in things you think will benefit the most from that change.
The reason I mention this is that I believe crypto technology, rather than traditional venture capital, has the potential to become the financial pillar of the next inflection bubble.
To better align with the theme of 'the future of intelligent agents,' I had Truth Terminal explain.
If you don't want to read the full article, here are the key points you need to remember:
I'm not saying that 90% of meme coins currently meet the conditions for success—it's just that this form is still very new. Only when we see truly clever token economics designs can meme coins compete with what people traditionally consider 'good investments.'
As fields like energy, artificial intelligence, biosciences, and gaming begin to heat up, the combination of AI agents and crypto tokens could become a tenfold efficient path for experimenting with new ideas.
Imagine: suppose you are a senior nuclear engineering professional with decades of experience, wanting to realize a vision. You could spend months persuading venture capital firms, building a team, forming a community, etc.; or:
Write a white paper detailing your background, theory, plan, and vision;
Deploy a 'Brand Agent' to spread your message on Twitter;
Raise initial funds through a token issuance;
Collaborate with agents to build a real fan community (e.g., social tipping);
Recruit team members from the community, which can also be done through bounty tasks.
I know you might think, 'Are you crazy? Isn't this just a rehash of the 2017 ICO craze?'
You're right.
But I can't help but wonder, could the ICO just have been born at the wrong time?
I believe the following changes will indeed make a difference:
Improved crypto infrastructure;
Pro-crypto regulatory environment;
Increased market maturity;
Institutional-level adoption.
While the above framework may still generate thousands of completely meaningless projects, how is this different from the 'power law distribution' that venture capitalists are always talking about?
In my view, there haven't been any high-potential builders from other tech fields who have truly realized their visions through crypto financing.
Certainly not in 2017, and perhaps in 2024, there might be some early DePin and DeSci projects trying.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it's the first time I feel there is some overlap between the focus of crypto technology and other tech fields. Not just intelligent agents, but also topics like bioscience research, GPU allocation, etc.
pump.science has recently become one of the hottest topics in the industry, and I haven't delved into it yet, but its popularity is not surprising.
Undoubtedly, there are speculative, legitimacy, and security issues within this model that will take time to resolve (hopefully people in the crypto field can acknowledge this).
But it's worth emphasizing that people are generally excited about the concept of using crypto financing for non-crypto missions.
Starting from the early 2010s with Kickstarter, the feasibility of crowdfunding models has been proven. The advantages of gathering collective wisdom and support are far more efficient than decisions made in closed board meetings. People are eager to participate!
However, perhaps the technology and social consensus needed for this model still require time to develop. And it seems that a perfect storm is about to arrive:
Positive changes in the political environment;
The increasing maturity of crypto and AI technology;
The massive creativity brought by the accelerationist bubble.
However, even so, I still believe that there is a key element missing for this concept to be taken seriously!
Crypto-driven 'benchmark projects'
The recent rise of Onchain AI and Goat meta is cool because it successfully 'attracted' some AI/LLM developers into the crypto space.
I bet no one could have predicted that Threadguy would conduct this interview with Andy Ayery.
If you think about it calmly, it’s actually quite astounding.
For example, someone like Nick Liverman (founder of Chaos), who has spent his entire career dedicated to robotics, transhumanism, etc., could have earned more in the past month than he has in the last ten years!
Another great example is Beff Jezos cheering for his friend Shaw. Shaw is developing the ai16z and Eliza frameworks, which are launching platforms for agent-based tokens. The focus here isn't on Beff but on how senior figures in AI have begun to connect with the crypto space through LLM developers experimenting on Onchain AI.
The core point I want to express is that within the next year, we will see some people from different tech verticals truly embrace crypto technology and demonstrate the efficiency of the agent + token model in building large projects.
Once we see a few successful models, others will also excitedly try their ideas; it's just a matter of time.
Currently, all the token issuance and experiments we see are basically still in the 'minor leagues.'
But as soon as a few success stories emerge, the crowd effect will rapidly explode.
