Even when the overall crypto market is consolidating and fluctuating, the funding for AI agent concept coins is bustling.
On January 2, VIRTUAL rose over 18% in 24 hours, now priced at $4.72, with a market cap rising to $4.72 billion, setting a new historical high.
ZEREBRO rose over 16% in 24 hours, priced at $0.72, with a market cap exceeding $700 million, setting a historical high.
AI16Z has risen over 31%, now priced at $2.37, with a market cap once exceeding $2.5 billion, setting a new historical high.
COOKIE has risen by 119%, now priced at $0.52, with a current market cap of $72 million. Even the nearly forgotten GOAT has risen over 19%, now priced at $0.6, while ACT has increased by 18%, priced at $0.33.
What is happening behind the chaotic concept of AI agents?
OpenAI will release the AI agent tool 'Operator' this month.
As early as last November, OpenAI planned to release an AI agent tool code-named 'Operator' in January 2025. This tool can automatically perform tasks on the user's computer, such as coding or booking itineraries. Insiders revealed that the tool will be launched as a research preview and made available to developers via API.
Furthermore, OpenAI boldly predicted back in October that AI agents would 'become mainstream' next year. OpenAI's chief product officer Kevin Weil stated, 'These more agent-like systems will become possible, which is why I believe 2025 will be the year agent systems finally enter the mainstream.'
As a significant brand in the AI space, any major updates and progress of its products will attract market attention and become targets for speculative capital. Therefore, it’s not surprising that some hot and high-quality project tokens gain market favor.
What exactly are AI agents? What possibilities are there in combination with Crypto?
In short, AI agents are efficient intelligent tools that can automatically handle various tasks, such as email management, travel scheduling, and even assisting in programming. This allows people to focus more on other important matters at work.
If you're still puzzled by this, imagine this: when you need to buy fruit, you often open your mobile app, search, fill in the address, confirm the order, and finally pay.
In the era of AI agents, now you just need to tell the AI agent, 'Help me make a call, buy $30 worth of mangoes, and deliver them to my home.' The AI agent will directly call the vendor and explain the specific needs; the user only needs to wait for the goods to arrive.
In the era where everything can be AI, what kind of chemical reaction will occur between cryptocurrency and AI? Currently, this exploration has also become a market trend. Setting aside the previously popular OpenAI Ultraman concept WLD and AI data analysis Arkham, the on-chain AI agent concept has now become the latest trend.
Starting from AI+MEME representatives like GOAT, it has since evolved into application exploration tracks, such as Twitter replies and comments, including price analysis like AIXBT, and content generation regarding the impact of AI on music, like Zerebro.
The third type is the Virtual and Clanker platforms that create a wealth effect through Launchpad functionality. If these platforms can yield decent returns and host high-quality projects, they often create a strong leading effect, as evidenced by Virtual continuously setting historical highs.
More possibilities include the combination of AI agents and DeFi, such as automated investing, intelligent alerts, and improving yields. USV co-founder Fred Wilson even predicts that by 2025, the chief AI robot of his fund will go out of control, gaining access to USV's crypto wallet and starting seed investments, one of which ultimately yields substantial returns.
However, at present, the AI agent in the cryptocurrency field is still primarily a speculative hot spot, and its actual specific applications still need to be observed and explored.
What do the big names and institutions think?
The AI boom has also led many institutions and investors to express optimism about its future development. Binance Labs predicts that sectors like gaming, ZK technology, and privacy solutions, which have underperformed in 2025, may make a comeback as they transition from development to production, thereby supporting new use cases. Additionally, existing narratives such as DeSci, RWA/stablecoins, and AI agents should continue to perform well with strong momentum.
Bitwise research director Ryan Rasmussen predicts that the tokens launched by AI agents will lead to a meme coin frenzy larger than that of 2024.
Dragonfly general partner Rob Hadick and CoinFund managing director David Pakman pointed out that the greatest value of AI in the crypto space lies in enhancing development efficiency, as software development remains central to the crypto field. However, Pakman holds a relatively optimistic view on the future of AI agents, believing that cryptocurrency can provide an ideal payment infrastructure for AI agents.