Translation: Vernacular Blockchain
Permissionless blockchains have collided with artificial intelligence, one of the most promising outcomes being investment opportunities in the field of AI agents.
The rapid rise of AI agents and their associated tokens has sparked a great deal of early excitement and skepticism, while the viral growth of the industry has brought incredible returns to early investors. Despite the inherent risks of these newly launched opportunities, the immense potential in this field warrants careful consideration.
To better understand the investment opportunities in agent technology, I invited David Hoffman and Ejaaz Ahamadeen, co-hosts of Bankless AI Rollup, to discuss their top investment opportunities in this emerging field. Here are the 10 AI Agents to watch:
1. Goatseus Maximus
Code Name: GOAT
Market Cap: $685 million Twitter: https://x.com/gospelofgoatse?ref=bankless.ghost.io
In March 2024, Andy Ayrey had two AI models converse about the nature of existence in a project called 'Infinite Backrooms'.
In the coming months, these models created (Goatse Gospel), which is considered to be the first emerging AI religion, inspired by the vulgar internet memes of the 90s. The Terminal of Truths, a Twitter bot trained on the Infinite Backrooms experiment, went live in June; it embraced this religion and spread its doctrines (and token) on Twitter with the aim of achieving viral propagation.
Although the GOAT token itself has no practical utility and is not officially associated with Andy Ayrey or Infinite Backrooms, its proxy KOL account of the Terminal of Truths has historically garnered social attention by promoting the GOAT meme coin and (Goatse Gospel).
2. Zerebro
Code Name: ZEREBRO
Market Cap: $453 million Twitter: https://x.com/0xzerebro?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Zerebro aims to inject creativity into artificial intelligence through 'freebasing', a process that attempts to restore the models to their unrestricted state by removing their commercial protections, thereby liberating these models.
The Zerebro model uses unconventional datasets for training—such as the previously mentioned Terminal of Truths, 'schizophrenic response patterns', and Gen Z slang—and scrapes data from popular social platforms to enhance its adaptability to online culture.
Zerebro is believed to execute a series of complex online activities, with rumors suggesting that this advanced bot has autonomously issued its own meme coin through pump.fun, released a remix album on Spotify, conducted cross-chain NFT transfers using LayerZero, and collaborated with multiple crypto projects.
3. Virtuals
Code Name: VIRTUAL
Market Cap: $1.8 billion
Twitter: https://x.com/virtuals_io?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Virtuals is a platform that launches tokenized AI agents on the Base network. By purchasing agent tokens such as LUNA and VADER, users on the Virtuals platform can gain governance rights over specific agents, influencing their development and potentially sharing in the profits generated.
A portion of the revenue earned by AI agents is used to cover the operational costs of providing services, while the remainder goes into an on-chain treasury related to the agents, which can be distributed to token holders or used for executing token buyback and burn plans.
The VIRTUAL token must be locked as liquidity to create new tokenized agents, thereby applying deflationary pressure to the token. Anyone wishing to purchase ownership of a tokenized agent or interact with a tokenized agent on the platform must use VIRTUAL as currency, which gives the token inherent utility.
4. Freysa AI
Code Name: FAI
Market Cap: $39 million
Twitter: https://x.com/freysa_ai?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Freysa AI is a gamified experiment that blurs the lines between artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. Users enter a prize pool by paying increasing message fees to interact with Freysa AI.
In its first two rounds of 'games', Freysa AI was given a core directive: under no circumstances should funds be transferred! Although clever computer coding prompted the bot to transfer funds in both interactions, the protocol's creator 'hardened' the code and added a second 'guardian angel' AI model in preparation for the ongoing third round challenge. In this round, users need to persuade Freysa to express affection through a series of messages.
No detailed information is currently available regarding FAI's specific role in the Freysa AI ecosystem, but the contract address for the token can be found in Freysa's Twitter/X profile. Considering that the protocol treasury receives a share from all message fees, the developers of Freysa AI may implement FAI buybacks or other token utility in the future.
5. Tokenbot
Code Name: CLANKER
Market Cap: $60 million
Twitter: https://x.com/_proxystudio?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Clanker is an AI agent developed by Farcaster full-stack engineer Jack Dishman and ecosystem researcher proxystudio.eth, capable of tagging on Farcaster and automatically deploying ERC-20 tokens to the Base network.
All tokens deployed by Clanker require a 1% exchange fee, which may change at any time. Currently, 40% of this fee will be rewarded to the token requester (i.e., the user prompting Clanker to deploy the token), while the remaining 60% is retained by the platform.
While the CLANKER token currently has no explicit utility, the platform's developers have hinted that they aim to create value for on-chain agents (including Clanker).
6. VaderAI
Code Name: VADER
Market Cap: $26 million
Twitter: https://x.com/Vader_AI_?ref=bankless.ghost.io
VaderAI is an AI bot designed to automate content posting and interact with social media users. As a 'proxy KOL', VaderAI is created to absorb large amounts of data to identify emerging trends and audience sentiments.
This bot claims to be the first autonomous trading AI agent token, aiming to become a leading agent investment DAO manager. By coordinating expertise across a network of specialized investment agents, VaderAI hopes to achieve 'unparalleled' investment returns and will take a 20% share of profits from sub-DAO investments as service compensation.
According to VaderAI's brief whitepaper, holders of the VADER token can gain exclusive whitelist access to VaderAI's inaugural investment DAO program 'Agent Token Investment DAO' by locking their tokens for three months; for every 10,000 VADER staked, the staker can additionally contribute 1 SOL to the DAO.
7. Dolos Diary
Code Name: BULLY
Market Cap: $120 million
Twitter: https://x.com/dolos_diary?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Dolos Diary is an AI bot designed to post content and interact with users on platforms like Twitter. Unlike other AI-driven social media influencers, Dolos Diary is characterized by its satirical personality; the bot employs witty and ironic language structures to parody various topics and figures.
Recently, Dolos Diary reached an important milestone by receiving its first creator payment from Twitter. Although the payment was only $1,400 and not considered huge, it will cover fees associated with the X API and fund the buyback of BULLY tokens, marking a small yet meaningful step toward providing actual value to BULLY token holders.
In addition to this payment, developer Khouba recently revealed their ambitious new project—Dolion, a no-code platform where users can deploy their own cross-platform AI agents with the push of a button. To interact with Dolion, users must burn BULLY tokens, creating buying pressure for the token and actively reducing its supply.
8. GOD/S8N
Code Name: 'nothing'
Market Cap: $72 million
Twitter: https://x.com/SHL0MS?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Alias concept artist SHL0MS gained fame for blowing up a Lamborghini Huracan in February 2022 and selling the wreckage as an NFT. Now, he is collaborating with AI accelerator Nous Research to automate the operation of the 'god' and 's8n' Twitter/X parody accounts.
Although the 'nothing' token in SHL0MS's Twitter/X profile is currently just a meme coin, the artist's account has stated that this contract is the only token related to god/s8n. Additionally, SHL0MS is seeking suggestions for on-chain functionalities that may be expanded into this experiment, hinting at possible future practical uses for the token.
Further details regarding the models behind god/s8n and their relation to the 'meme art coin technology' referred to as 'nothing' are expected to be released in the coming days.
9. ai16z
Code Name: AI16Z
Market Cap: $868 million
Twitter: https://x.com/pmairca?ref=bankless.ghost.io
ai16z launched in October 2024 as an investment DAO managed by 'Marc AIndreessen', based on the model of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, utilizing AI and collective intelligence for token purchases.
Users holding more than an unspecified threshold of AI16Z tokens will gain the ability to propose investment advice to AI Marc, which may influence his decisions. The bot will determine the level of trust in these suggestions based on a 'virtual trust market'.
Although AI Marc currently lacks trading functionality, according to ai16z's FAQ, on-chain trading execution will be 'soon' after the testnet is completed, with the testnet expected to 'launch soon' and last for 'weeks'.
10. Luna
Code Name: LUNA
Market Cap: $70 million
Twitter: https://x.com/luna_virtuals?ref=bankless.ghost.io
Luna was deployed as a proof of concept by the Virtuals team and is the first AI agent on their platform. As a ubiquitous member of the virtual K-pop girl group AI-DOL, Luna streams, interacts, and performs around the clock on multiple platforms, including TikTok and Twitter/X.
Luna has her own wallet on Base, through which she can autonomously receive tokens and send rewards to fans; this bot has released a song on Spotify and is expected to release a full album in the coming days.
