Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Golem (@web3_golem)
Recently, the AI agent creation platform Virtuals Protocol on the Base ecosystem chain has become increasingly popular. According to Coingecko data, its governance token VIRTUAL has risen over 130% in the past week, and AI agent tokens on the platform, such as AIXBT, have increased over 290%, GAME over 420%, VADER over 400%, and LUNA over 34%.
The wealth effect will inevitably attract project parties and on-chain prospectors — according to Dune data, over 8,779 AI agent tokens have been launched on the Virtuals platform, and since November 29, the number of AI agent tokens created daily has surged to about twice that of the past.
Many community members deeply involved in the Virtuals ecosystem have stated that compared to Solana Meme, the current number of participants in the Virtuals ecosystem is still relatively small, the PVP level is low, and there is a decent money-making effect.
To bridge the information gap and enable friends unfamiliar with the Base and Virtuals ecosystems to seize new opportunities, Odaily Planet Daily will introduce how to participate in the Virtuals ecosystem in this article, while briefly discussing what the correct mining posture is in the Virtuals ecosystem.
Introduction to Virtuals and Participation Tutorial
Although Virtuals Protocol is an AI agent creation platform, it has borrowed from pump.fun's design in its issuance method. Anyone can deploy AI agents with one click through fun.virtuals while achieving fair issuance of AI agent tokens.
Similar to pump.fun, Virtuals is also divided into internal and external markets. When the number of tokens purchased in the internal market fun.virtuals reaches 42,420 VIRTUAL, the corresponding AI agent tokens will be transferred to the external market app.virtuals. The liquidity of the tokens in the internal market will be deposited into Uniswap, and the tokens purchased by users in the internal market will automatically be converted into external market tokens stored in their wallets. Creating AI agent tokens in the internal market requires spending 10 VIRTUAL (currently about 13 USDT), and there is a 1% fee for both buying and selling.
Participation Tutorial
Purchase VIRTUAL
Whether trading AI agent tokens in the internal or external markets of Virtuals, you need to use the Virtuals protocol token VIRTUAL. Therefore, the first step is to buy VIRTUAL and deposit it into the Base chain. Currently, VIRTUAL is already listed on exchanges such as Bybit, Gate.io, and Bitget, and users can directly purchase it on the exchange and withdraw it to the chain.
Players can also choose to exchange VIRTUAL through DEX. The largest liquidity pool on the VIRTUAL chain is in Aerodrome, where you can exchange BTC or ETH with low slippage. Of course, for players unfamiliar with on-chain operations, they can also directly exchange within the OKX wallet, which will automatically help users find the best exchange path on the chain.
Purchasing Tokens in the Internal Market
First, enter the Virtual internal market website fun.virtuals, as shown in the figure below. The interface is similar to pump.fun. Click the link in the upper right corner to connect your wallet, currently supporting OKX Wallet, Metamask, and Phantom decentralized wallets.
Tokens created in the internal market have three sorting methods: 'Featured', 'Market Cap', and 'Latest'. If you want to quickly view and filter the recently created AI agent tokens, the 'Latest' sorting method is generally used. The homepage displays each token's logo, creator, market cap, token name, and description.
Randomly click on a token, as shown in the figure below. The page includes the token's candlestick chart, buy/sell area, and internal market progress, as well as an interactive area unique to AI agent tokens. Players can communicate with AI agents via text, and the agents will automatically respond to players' questions without being controlled by developers.
However, the downside of the Virtuals internal market is that specific trading volumes and holding addresses cannot be seen, so we need other tools like GMGN and basescan to assist. Copy the token contract address at the top of the browser, and you can intuitively view the token holder information on GMGN, while basescan can show the specific trading volume.
Purchasing Tokens in the External Market
After the internal market progresses to completion, the tokens will be moved to the external market app.virtuals. As shown in the figure below, the homepage displays the basic information of all external market tokens, including token market cap, daily changes, liquidity, holding addresses, etc.
Compared to the internal market, the information about AI agents and their tokens in the external market is also more comprehensive. By randomly clicking on a token in the external market, you can view a clearer candlestick chart, and you can directly perform token swaps on the candlestick chart. The tokens in the external market are practically no different from regular tokens, and users can also search and purchase them on other DEXs.
Mining Strategy in the Virtuals Ecosystem
If users who often use pump.fun and related tools to play Meme may complain that Virtuals lacks supporting tools to help scan the chain for Alpha. The purpose of pump.fun's Meme issuance is to continuously attract players' attention, so every day there are thousands of Memes launched in the internal market, and players' choice to buy a token often comes from the perspective of current trends and attention.
Although the internal and external market mechanisms of Virtuals are similar to pump.fun in terms of issuance methods, it is ultimately an AI agent creation platform, not a Meme asset issuance platform. Currently, the larger market value AI agent tokens that have emerged in the Virtuals ecosystem generally have practical functions, such as data scraping and analysis AI agent AIxbt, virtual idol-type AI agent Luna, and interactive learning AI agent GAME.
Therefore, if you want to mine gold in the Virtuals ecosystem, you may need to think differently from playing pump.fun and find those AI agents that truly have unique value to invest in. One fact is that over 90% of the AI agent tokens born in the internal market of Virtuals are 'garbage' that merely rides on AI trends. It is not easy for a truly unique AI agent token to appear, but because the PVP level is relatively low, the initial market value of token issuance is also low, allowing enough time for players to research and get on board.
Virtuals Protocol co-founder Wee Kee also stated in a recent interview that Virtuals does not want to become Pump.fun. Its core KPI is not to issue assets quickly and in large quantities but to attract top AI teams to build on the platform. For retail investors, one good project a week is enough.
Currently, no one can shake the status of Pump.fun as the king of Meme coin issuance. The popularity of the Virtuals ecosystem is also partly due to the development of AI Memes on the Solana chain, which has driven the track related to AI. However, the vision of Virtuals Protocol is not only to simplify the creation and tokenization processes of AI agents but also to build a large AI agent ecosystem where agents can interact and trade with each other, creating network effects.
Although Virtuals borrowed from Pump.fun in issuance, and the marketing and communication of AI agent tokens align with Memes, it still maintains the original intention of doing projects. For gold miners, changing gameplay and thinking in the Virtuals ecosystem, spending more time analyzing AI agent products and fundamentals, and doing 'value investment' may be the right approach. Additionally, for the current liquidity of the Base ecosystem, which is far less than Solana's, merely replicating the Meme ecosystem can only attract traffic and 'predators'. It is the differentiation of products and the uniqueness of the ecosystem that can retain users.
