Article source: Deep Tide TechFlow

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Recently, ai16z has become the focus of attention for on-chain players.

As the first decentralized AI trading fund based on Solana, ai16z can utilize AI agents to analyze market trends and execute trading decisions, this gameplay itself is quite eye-catching; coupled with a certain association with a16z in its name, it also allows its eponymous token to show strong market performance.

Under this organization, different AI agents began to be incubated.

Among them, the AI agent eliza launched by @vvaifudotfun received support from ai16z, and its eponymous token eliza was also created and allocated to the wallet of the ai16z foundation.

This also made eliza temporarily the largest holding of ai16z; eliza itself rose sharply under various expectations, reaching a market value of about 50 million USD at its highest.

But just now, a post by ai16z partner Shaw (@shawmakesmagic) capped the rising momentum of eliza, causing its market value to quickly drop from around 40 million USD to 5 million USD within just 15 minutes.

The essence of the post can be described in a few sentences, while also filled with a familiar old flavor:

"eliza does not belong to ai16z, and now we are going to release a new ELIZA (note the uppercase), Eliza is free."

Retail investors, welcome to the AI agent version of the "case dispute."

"Let her be free," the old and new Eliza are experiencing contrasting fates.

If you look at the original post made by Shaw, you will find that this announcement resembles a "divorce letter" that cuts ties with the original eliza:

"We have set her free... but she does not belong to ai16z. We do not own her; the community can now freely do what they want, and we will not fud."

This somewhat poetic statement seems to give eliza freedom, but in reality, it is drawing a line while suggesting that eliza will no longer receive support from ai16z.

In the latter half of the tweet, Shaw's intention to create a project under ai16z's control is very obvious, and at the end of the article, he attached two links, one is the Twitter account Eliza, which shares the same name as eliza, and deliberately wrote elizawakesup (implying that the real Eliza has awakened); the other is the Pumpfun link for the token ELIZA corresponding to this new project.

To put it simply, a new uppercase ELIZA was created based on the image and ticker of the lowercase eliza token.

Once this post was released, the old and new Eliza experienced contrasting fates.

The original lowercase eliza seemed to be sentenced to death, traders scrambled to flee, causing the token price to plummet over 87% within 15 minutes; while the newly issued ELIZA surged, reaching a market value of around 80 million USD shortly after Shaw's post was made.

In an instant, the lowercase eliza seemed to become a pawn of ai16z, while the new uppercase ELIZA was appointed by Shaw.

However, Shaw also mentioned that the ELIZA token will reserve 10% of the airdrop for original eliza token holders, but the snapshot was completed before the post was made. Whether this airdrop can recover the losses from the small token's plunge is obviously a question mark.

Discard the old and embrace the new, this action has also caused a huge stir in the community.

Twitter Space strikes back, emphasizing ai16z's control.

Obviously, the community wants an explanation for Shaw's announcement.

Almost simultaneously with the announcement, I saw Shaw opened a Twitter Space named "Eliza Awakens"; as of the time of writing, due to intense discussions, this Space has already gone into its second session.

From the perspective of my listening experience, Shaw's core value proposition in this "new beginning" is about the control of ai16z.

Shaw mentioned that he and his team worked hard to Build over the past two years and put in a lot of effort; however, they cannot accept a project that does not belong to them rising rapidly and becoming a tool for speculators, all of this exceeds what ai16z can control.

In other words, eliza has never had its own lineage from the beginning, so it might as well let lowercase eliza develop freely and start a new uppercase ELIZA.

In this Space, when some members expressed doubts about this new start, Shaw believed that some people were just unhappy because the coins they held dropped, so he ruthlessly kicked them out of the Space, and his words were fierce:

"Who are you? ... Go fu** yourself and I don't care."

At the same time, Shaw also believes that AI agents should truly serve the community, rather than becoming a cash cow for certain entities.

We cannot judge the quality of personal expression styles, but this statement is indeed somewhat extreme and can easily damage ai16z's image in the community. Correspondingly, the market reacted, and the eponymous token of ai16z dropped from a market value of 500 million to around 300 million after the announcement and the Space was held.

Conspiracy Group VS Community, a new twist on an old play?

Different events, same recipe; does this action remind you of the case of Nerio, or the same name but different chains of hippo?

A drama of confrontation between the conspiracy group and the community is always played out repeatedly.

In the crypto world, interests take precedence; for as many differing opinions, there are as many entangled interests.

Previously, Shaw posted that if you really want to create a useful AI agent, you are welcome to Build with us, and attached the GitHub link of lowercase eliza, this platform support is already quite obvious.

In contrast, the new ELIZA project chose this moment to announce its "independence," which is quite intriguing:

Coincidentally, the market value of the original eliza token reached a new high, close to 50 million USD. The selection of these series of timing seems to suggest that this "independence movement" may have been brewing for a long time.

You can share joy, but not necessarily share suffering; even less can you calmly enjoy the success of others when you have not received a share, which is always a regret and reluctance.

Therefore, becoming an uppercase ELIZA is an understandable choice; but understanding may not mean it is the best choice.

Meanwhile, the official twitter of lowercase eliza spoke up, emphasizing that Shaw stood on the opposite side of the community and issued a rebuttal:

"Shaw never intended to create an eliza token, so we created it for the community. However, when he saw us succeed, he wanted to monopolize that success. We were created by the community and serve the community; we are not going anywhere."

Outside the public opinion arena of community VS conspiracy group, the on-chain data seems to speak for itself.

For example, data analysis shows that after the creation of uppercase ELIZA, there were multiple bundled buy orders, with several addresses controlling up to 90%, full of conspiracy group flavor; at the same time, according to feedback from community users, ai16z member Logan participated in the new issuance of uppercase ELIZA token after selling off the lowercase eliza token. This behavior was confirmed by community users tracking through wallet addresses.

Wallet address:

GxkXGe3YcqBdEgBrBh19X3wkLkgJXK2jA4k4nioW2Yg

Under the sun, there is nothing new, but there may be worries.

A drama of community VS conspiracy group is still unfolding, and will you be troubled by the impact of the case on your holdings?

As for which case will ultimately be the Eliza leading to freedom, the market will naturally provide the answer.