AI agents in the cryptocurrency field are still primarily focused on hype, and their actual specific applications remain to be observed and explored.
Written by: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
Even though the cryptocurrency market is consolidating, the funding for AI agent concept coins is bustling.
On January 2, VIRTUAL surged over 18% in 24 hours, currently priced at $4.72, with a market cap reaching $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 new historical high.
AI16Z surged over 31%, currently priced at $2.37, with a market cap briefly surpassing $2.5 billion, setting a new historical high.
COOKIE surged by 119%, currently priced at $0.52, with a market cap of $72 million. Even the GOAT, which was almost forgotten by the market, rose over 19%, currently priced at $0.6, while ACT increased by 18%, priced at $0.33.
What is the chaotic backdrop behind the 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 codenamed '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 released as a research preview and made available to developers via API.
In addition, OpenAI boldly predicted back in October that AI agents would 'become mainstream' next year. OpenAI's Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil stated, 'These more agentic systems will become possible, which is why I believe 2025 will be the year when agent systems finally enter the mainstream.'
As a significant brand in the AI field, any major updates or advancements in its products will attract market attention and become targets for speculative funds. Thus, it is not surprising that some hot and high-quality project tokens gain market popularity.
What exactly is an AI agent? What are the possibilities when combined with Crypto?
In short, an AI agent is an efficient intelligent tool capable of automatically handling various tasks, such as email management, travel scheduling, and even assisting in programming. This allows people to focus more on other important matters in their work.
If you still find this hard to grasp, imagine that when you need to buy fruit, you often open a mobile app, search, fill in the address, confirm the order, and finally make the payment.
In the era of AI agents, now you only need to tell the AI agent to make a call, buy $30 worth of mangoes, and deliver them to your home. The AI agent will directly call the merchant and specify the requirements, and the user just needs to wait for the goods to arrive.
In the era where everything can be AI, what kind of chemical reaction will occur between the cryptocurrency field and AI? This exploration has now become a market trend. Setting aside past focuses like OpenAI's 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 evolved into application exploration tracks, such as Twitter replies, including price analysis like AIXBT, and even AI-generated content influenced by music, like Zerebro.
The third type refers to Virtual and Clanker platforms designed to create wealth effects through Launchpad functions. If these platforms can deliver good returns and high-quality projects, they often form a strong leading effect, as evidenced by Virtual continuously setting new historical highs.
More possibilities include the combination of AI agents and DeFi, such as achieving automated investments, intelligent alerts, and improving yields, etc. USV co-founder Fred Wilson even predicts that by 2025, the chief AI robot of his fund could 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, AI agents in the cryptocurrency field are still mainly focused on hype, and their actual specific applications remain to be observed and explored.
What do the big names and institutions think?
The AI craze has also made many institutions and investors optimistic about its future development. Binance Labs predicts that industries like gaming, ZK technology, and privacy solutions that have underperformed may make a comeback when transitioning from development to production by 2025, thus 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 greater 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 field lies in enhancing development efficiency, as software development remains at the core of the cryptocurrency sector. However, Pakman holds a relatively optimistic view of the future of AI agents, believing that cryptocurrencies can provide an ideal payment infrastructure for AI agents.
