In this wave of AI + Crypto project boom, I hold a very cautious attitude towards the vast majority of projects until I saw Coinbase use AI agents to send cryptocurrency transactions for the first time on the Base Layer 2 network.
I believe this is a milestone event for the application of AI combined with blockchain technology. I couldn't contain my excitement and wrote (A significant step in the AI + blockchain fission) on September 2nd.
I believe that in the future, many operations in the crypto network will likely not be conducted by humans but by AI agents, as I increasingly believe that crypto assets and crypto transactions are tailor-made for AI agents.
But I don't have a clear understanding of how AI agents can further unleash their potential in the crypto ecosystem or how crypto assets and crypto technology can assist AI agents; I can only think and observe at the same time.
Later, when I saw ORA (https://www.ora.io/) propose the IMO model, which uses the 1CO method to finance the development of open-source language models, I began to have expectations for this model (August 21st (Interpretation of a new AI financing model IMO)), but unfortunately, this method has not gained popularity since then.
Later, Truth Terminal initiated the meme coin GOAT through AI agents, which gave me a glimmer of hope - AI agents began to participate in project operations and interactions, which is a significant step forward compared to Coinbase merely using agents to send transactions. Although the project itself is a meme coin without practical use, this scenario shows us various possibilities for the combination of AI agents and blockchain applications.
While observing GOAT, I noticed Virtuals Protocol (October 31st ('AI agents' hunting meme, is it the next hot narrative in web 3)). It uses the 1CO method to finance the building and development of AI agents and has built a platform for financing these projects https://app.virtuals.io/.
However, there weren't many projects on the platform at that time; there were only a few scattered ones. Also, after looking at some project descriptions, I couldn't spot any highlights.
But at least this is another financing method that uses crypto assets to support AI development after IMO.
I didn't expect that more than a month later, the projects on the Virtuals platform began to explode.
Many people view all the tokens on this platform as meme coins, believing the projects behind them have no practical value. However, I tested several AI agents from some projects, and some of them are quite impressive.
Coincidentally, over the weekend, Deep Tide published an interview with a co-founder of Virtuals Protocol, which gave me a deeper understanding of this project.
The link to this interview is at the end of the article, and I recommend everyone to read this interview carefully.
When I look at any project, my primary focus is on the project founder, paying attention to his background, vision, and values. This interview reflects the performance of this co-founder in these aspects quite well.
I extracted several impressive excerpts from the interview:
"Regarding AI Agent, we strongly believe that a form called AIRPG will definitely emerge in future game categories."
"I believe the future world will be like this: you will have a virtual world with 100 different AI Agents, each with a different personality. As players, we can go in to date, be interest fanatics, pursue becoming the world's richest person, etc. These AI Agents can make money because they are independent entities with their own wallets. From a productivity perspective, they have cash flow, so we can tokenize them. This is our established overall framework."
"An Agent that wants to become popular may not write a song; it can pay another Agent to write a song; or if it needs cryptocurrency data analysis, it can find another Agent specialized in that area. This creates an Autonomous Agent Economy or Agent Commerce, where Agents can transact with each other because each Agent has its own wallet and can pay service fees to achieve its goals."
"We don't want to become Pump.fun; that's not our profit model. Our KPI is to attract excellent AI developers."
"I believe that in the next four years after Trump takes office, the United States will become a very crypto-friendly country. And Base is the most 'American' ecosystem in the global ecosystem; there is no ecosystem more American than Base. From a strategic perspective, choosing Base is currently the best decision."
"The most important thing about cryptocurrency is freedom; Permissionless is the first principle."
This interview contains many interesting excerpts, so I won't list them all.
I strongly agree with this founder's understanding and vision regarding AI agents, the crypto ecosystem, and many other aspects.
Examining the progress of Virtuals during this period, the application of financing AI agents through crypto assets is unfolding and is even accelerating.
This method's feasibility still needs to be observed. Even if it works, its future may not be smooth sailing; 99% of projects on the platform may ultimately fail, but as long as one top-tier project can stand out from this approach, it would be a great blessing. -------- Ethereum is the one that was born from the 1CO model and is the most successful one. This single case is enough for 1CO to be remembered in history.
Reference link:
https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_21958.html