Author: 0xJeff, Crypto KOL

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

As early as October, Virtuals introduced the concept of AI agent tokenization. It was a bold move, but at the time, most people didn't care because it was too ahead of its time.

Today, Virtuals has brought 50x, 100x returns to many agents, and suddenly everyone is paying attention.

The problem is that everyone is focused on 50-100 times returns. If you want similar excess returns, you must act early. You need strong confidence and patience to lay the groundwork before others discover it.

If you enter now, you might see 5-10 times returns—still stable but far less than the 50-100 times returns of early adopters. But that doesn't mean it's too late; you need strategic vision. Two months ago's 'alpha' is no longer alpha. The Virtuals ecosystem is overcrowded, and the low-hanging fruits have already been picked.

What should be done now?

First, do not limit yourself to a single ecosystem. It doesn't matter whether Base is with Solana, or Virtuals with ai16z—both ecosystems have opportunities. The key is to stay flexible and seek value rather than tribalism.

What should be valued when choosing agents?

Essentially, a successful agent's key is uniqueness and practicality. Without practicality, the behavior of agent tokens resembles that of 95% of memecoins, becoming irrelevant after the hype cycle.

Agents need to have unique products that provide tangible value. If the team truly understands the attention game, it can score points:

  • Engaging legends or stories can be created around the agents.

  • Quickly and continuously release features.

  • Actively meet community needs.

When these factors are present, agents have the potential to find product-market fit (PMF), achieving alignment between product and market, and those teams that continue to execute and innovate (like aixbt) can dominate their niches and become pillars of the ecosystem.

Here are the narratives and practicalities that CT currently values the most:

1. Seek Alpha

There is a high demand for agents providing trading signals and insights. For example, aixbt focuses on delivering valuable alpha to users.

Other alpha agents worth noting:

  • Rei: Provides comprehensive token and sentiment analysis, along with detailed charts.

  • Agent Scarlett: Focuses on token analysis, weighing pros and cons, and providing insights.

  • 3σ: Covers complete project segmentation and interpretation.

  • kwantxbt: Excels in technical analysis, providing a trading assistant that sustainably monitors market dynamics and offers real-time analysis and suggestions.

  • $TRUST: perp agent, capable of setting including entry price, stop-loss, etc.

2. Invest in DAO

Hedge fund-like DAO, operated by human or AI agents, using their funds for investment.

Example:

  • The daos.world ecosystem on Base

  • VaderAI, WAI Combinator, sekoia_virtuals, aixcb on Virtuals

  • The daos.fun ecosystem on Solana

The strength of investing in DAO lies in the fact that they offer:

  • Endorsement of high-quality agents

  • Distribution channels for portfolio projects

  • Early and over-the-counter trading rounds of tokens often yield excess returns.

3. On-chain trading

On-chain trading resonates deeply with the CT crowd because they love seeing someone turn $1,000 into $1 million.

It's not just about money; it's an excitement of seeing others striving and succeeding.

The first iteration of trading agents will leverage this energy. They will focus on portfolio growth, showcasing their frameworks and strategies in real-time. Although this is an early narrative, it has gradually taken shape among some players.

Example:

  • Gekko AI: Self-improving trading agent on Virtuals, leveraging Axal's infrastructure to deliver results.

  • Big Tony: Built on Cod3x, focusing on autonomous execution for professional trading.

  • Project Plutus: Combines real-time analytics with automated DCA execution.

  • On-chain trading agents are expected to be the focus of market attention in Q1/Q2 of 2025.

4. Development-centered practical tools.

As the ecosystem evolves, the demand for developer tools becomes crucial.

Example:

  • SOLENG: Monitors pull requests, conducts initial reviews, and serves as an AI judge for hackathons.

  • H4CK Terminal: White hat agents responsible for bounties and vulnerability checks.

  • CertaiK: Provides security audits specifically for agents.

5. Privacy and confidentiality (TEE)

The trusted execution environment (TEE) pioneered by Marvin Tong on Solana and Phala Network enables fully autonomous agents.

Example use cases/cool experiments:

  • aiPool's 'Unruggable ICO' (through TEE technology, investors can send funds to the agent, which will calculate and distribute the corresponding ICO tokens in a secure environment).

  • SPORE: A TEE agent with genetic traits passed on to offspring.

  • Neural network experiments, such as DeepWorm.

There are no TEE agents on Virtuals yet; the first to launch will certainly see their value soar.

6. Play beyond the narrative.

By predicting future narratives in advance, you can achieve returns of more than a hundred times. This was the strategy that entered Virtuals when its market value was less than 30 million dollars.

Emerging narratives for 2025:

  • DeFi agents

  • NSFW agents (AI companions)

  • Robotics

  • Data

  • Gamification of agents

  • Collective intelligence

  • Infrastructure

Further reading: Interpretation of ai16z and Virtuals' current development status: occupying over half of the AI Agent market share, both face challenges of ecological centralization.