AI plus crypto, powered by AI agents and backed by an open and social internet, has become the new narrative in the transition between 2024 and 2025. What were previously seen as separate technologies are now converging.
Agenic AI is at the center of this evolution and marks the transition from generative AI to a new phase in which action and autonomy are key. From social interaction and communication to finance and gaming, AI agents are now at the core of a growing agentic economy.
This is the second of several articles where we take a closer look at how AI agents are an emerging technology that will also influence and interact with other technologies, such as SaaS and cloud services, no-code solutions, APIs, blockchains, crypto, financial technology, social media, gaming and the metaverse.
The first article can be found here: Now comes the AI agents: A new industrial revolution?
The crypto market has always been driven by strong narratives. We've seen periods dominated by DeFi (decentralized finance), Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains, NFTs, and even ETFs. Each of these periods introduced new concepts and technologies that shaped the market, from the 2020 DeFi wave that revolutionized financial services, to the NFT hype that offered promises of a new economy for digital assets.
Similar to previous periods, we now see AI agents taking their place as the dominant narrative. Agenic AI combined with crypto has already gained significant attention within the crypto community. According to surveys, this narrative now has a mindshare of over 60% within Crypto Twitter (CT).
In just a few months, the market value of this sector has grown from USD 2.6 billion in November to over USD 14-16 billion in January. Every day, dozens of new AI agents are launched on Virtuals, which is the largest of several launch platforms for agents. Along with Cookie.fun, an aggregator of all the AI agents in the market, Virtuals is joining and driving the interest and the new crypto narrative.
Although the rates of many AI agents have fallen after the New Year in tandem with a general correction in the crypto market, the number of AI agents, which has now passed 13,000, continues to increase rapidly. New AI agents such as Anon and Hyperfy have also been met with great interest from investors, retail and developers alike, which could indicate that the sector could be sustainable in the longer term.
Development is not only driven by a convergence of AI and crypto. The combination of AI agents with SocialFi (social finance) also helps drive awareness, new user experiences and workflows.
On the blockchain side, development is mainly driven by Solana and Base, blockchains that currently constitute the “home” of most AI agents. While the actors driving the development on the agent side are platforms such as Virtuals, Cookie.fun, AIXBT and Ai16z. Here aixbt impresses both with its very high level of familiarity and with its ongoing tweets, which appear both useful and entertaining. Ai16z (not to be confused with the VC company a16z) is behind Eliza, a protocol for the development and integration of AI agents, which has received very positive reviews on the developer platform Github, which is used both by web2 and web3 developers.
Historically, many AI experts have been skeptical of blockchain technology and crypto. Following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, many developers and venture capitalists shifted their focus from Web3 to AI, driven by the huge hype surrounding generative AI. Now, however, we are seeing a convergence between the two fields, in which agent technology plays a key role.
This development is due to several factors:
The result is that interest in AI plus crypto is coming from multiple directions — from established AI environments, Web3 communities, and emerging developers who see the potential of this fusion.
What makes the combination of AI and crypto extra interesting is the ability for the agents to operate in a decentralized on-chain economy. Here are some key points:
The agents thus act as a bridge between AI and crypto by combining the strengths of both technologies:
This development has created a whole new toolbox for innovation, which explains why the interest in AI plus crypto is coming from AI communities, Web3 developers and investors alike.
While the number of AI agents is growing rapidly, there is also significant investment in infrastructure, platforms and solutions that can support existing agents and drive new ones. At the moment, there are two platforms in particular that stand out, Cookie.fun and Virtuals Protocol, but every day there are new players joining the infrastructure race.
Virtuals Protocol is primarily a launch platform for AI agents built on the BASE blockchain. But Virtuals is also driving development in the form of frameworks such as the gaming protocol GAME and the social pilot profile Luna, which through creative tweets aims to recruit 100,000 followers on X.
Cookie.fun acts as an indexing and data layer for AI agents. The platform gathers real-time data from blockchains and social media, giving agents the insight they need to make informed decisions. But also Cookie.fun is in the process of developing tools that AI agents can use.
But there are also many others who want to build and manage the infrastructure of the new agent economy. This includes platforms for developing and launching agents, data analysis tools, open protocols based on technologies such as Python or Typeform, as well as integrations with Large Language Models (LLM) models and payment solutions
Agenic AI combined with crypto has also begun to challenge or transform several sectors.
These financial uses have led to the emergence of DeFai (Decentralized Finance + AI), a sector that now has a total value of US$600-650 million.
Outside of infrastructure and DeFai, we are also seeing the emergence of gaming-focused agents and metaverse platforms where AI agents play central roles.
Another important factor in the growth of the crypto-based agent economy is the open internet and social media, which play a crucial role in distribution and interaction between people and agents and the agents in between. Platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Telegram, Farcaster and Lens can thus act as “highways” or “nervous systems” in the agentic economy. These channels enable rapid dissemination of information, collaboration between users and agents, as well as viral attention to new projects.
With open source technology, APIs and no-code tools, developers can easily build agents that integrate seamlessly with these platforms. This creates network effects that drive the adoption of both agents and the underlying Web3 infrastructure.
Many people still ask the question; are agentcoins really just another word for memenoins? In one sense, that may be a correct observation, as several agentcoins have started out as memenoins. But the opportunities inherent in the convergence of AI and crypto have interested thousands of developers and investors who have chosen to stay away from the memoins.
At the same time, memeoins continue to be an important part of the crypto market, with a market capitalization of over $120 billion, which is a high number compared to the AI agents' combined market capitalization of well over $15 billion.
Memecoins and agentcoins will also represent two different categories in terms of functionality, utility and value proposition.
Now what? Of course, it is important to consider whether this narrative will experience the same phases as previous trends in the crypto market. Will AI agents face resistance and skepticism as we've seen with other technologies? Will the AI agents go from boom to bust?
The combination of AI and crypto represents an interesting technological development anyway. Currently, we see a rapidly changing ecosystem, with new uses emerging in finance, social media and infrastructure. At the same time, it is important to recognize that history has shown that technological paradigm shifts rarely follow linear trajectories.
The adoption of AI agents will depend on real utility, ease of use and the ability to solve existing problems. The next 12-24 months are likely to provide clearer indications as to whether this technological convergence will have lasting significance or remain a transitory phenomenon. In other words, there are good reasons to follow developments both with curious interest and a critical eye.
This article has been researched and prepared in several ways: using the author's knowledge, overview and narrative ability, via good old-fashioned search, using an analytic-based human-to-agent dialogue and through a personal quality assurance of content and sources.
AI plus crypto, powered by AI agents and backed by an open and social internet, has become the new narrative in the transition between 2024 and 2025. What were previously seen as separate technologies are now converging.
Agenic AI is at the center of this evolution and marks the transition from generative AI to a new phase in which action and autonomy are key. From social interaction and communication to finance and gaming, AI agents are now at the core of a growing agentic economy.
This is the second of several articles where we take a closer look at how AI agents are an emerging technology that will also influence and interact with other technologies, such as SaaS and cloud services, no-code solutions, APIs, blockchains, crypto, financial technology, social media, gaming and the metaverse.
The first article can be found here: Now comes the AI agents: A new industrial revolution?
The crypto market has always been driven by strong narratives. We've seen periods dominated by DeFi (decentralized finance), Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains, NFTs, and even ETFs. Each of these periods introduced new concepts and technologies that shaped the market, from the 2020 DeFi wave that revolutionized financial services, to the NFT hype that offered promises of a new economy for digital assets.
Similar to previous periods, we now see AI agents taking their place as the dominant narrative. Agenic AI combined with crypto has already gained significant attention within the crypto community. According to surveys, this narrative now has a mindshare of over 60% within Crypto Twitter (CT).
In just a few months, the market value of this sector has grown from USD 2.6 billion in November to over USD 14-16 billion in January. Every day, dozens of new AI agents are launched on Virtuals, which is the largest of several launch platforms for agents. Along with Cookie.fun, an aggregator of all the AI agents in the market, Virtuals is joining and driving the interest and the new crypto narrative.
Although the rates of many AI agents have fallen after the New Year in tandem with a general correction in the crypto market, the number of AI agents, which has now passed 13,000, continues to increase rapidly. New AI agents such as Anon and Hyperfy have also been met with great interest from investors, retail and developers alike, which could indicate that the sector could be sustainable in the longer term.
Development is not only driven by a convergence of AI and crypto. The combination of AI agents with SocialFi (social finance) also helps drive awareness, new user experiences and workflows.
On the blockchain side, development is mainly driven by Solana and Base, blockchains that currently constitute the “home” of most AI agents. While the actors driving the development on the agent side are platforms such as Virtuals, Cookie.fun, AIXBT and Ai16z. Here aixbt impresses both with its very high level of familiarity and with its ongoing tweets, which appear both useful and entertaining. Ai16z (not to be confused with the VC company a16z) is behind Eliza, a protocol for the development and integration of AI agents, which has received very positive reviews on the developer platform Github, which is used both by web2 and web3 developers.
Historically, many AI experts have been skeptical of blockchain technology and crypto. Following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, many developers and venture capitalists shifted their focus from Web3 to AI, driven by the huge hype surrounding generative AI. Now, however, we are seeing a convergence between the two fields, in which agent technology plays a key role.
This development is due to several factors:
The result is that interest in AI plus crypto is coming from multiple directions — from established AI environments, Web3 communities, and emerging developers who see the potential of this fusion.
What makes the combination of AI and crypto extra interesting is the ability for the agents to operate in a decentralized on-chain economy. Here are some key points:
The agents thus act as a bridge between AI and crypto by combining the strengths of both technologies:
This development has created a whole new toolbox for innovation, which explains why the interest in AI plus crypto is coming from AI communities, Web3 developers and investors alike.
While the number of AI agents is growing rapidly, there is also significant investment in infrastructure, platforms and solutions that can support existing agents and drive new ones. At the moment, there are two platforms in particular that stand out, Cookie.fun and Virtuals Protocol, but every day there are new players joining the infrastructure race.
Virtuals Protocol is primarily a launch platform for AI agents built on the BASE blockchain. But Virtuals is also driving development in the form of frameworks such as the gaming protocol GAME and the social pilot profile Luna, which through creative tweets aims to recruit 100,000 followers on X.
Cookie.fun acts as an indexing and data layer for AI agents. The platform gathers real-time data from blockchains and social media, giving agents the insight they need to make informed decisions. But also Cookie.fun is in the process of developing tools that AI agents can use.
But there are also many others who want to build and manage the infrastructure of the new agent economy. This includes platforms for developing and launching agents, data analysis tools, open protocols based on technologies such as Python or Typeform, as well as integrations with Large Language Models (LLM) models and payment solutions
Agenic AI combined with crypto has also begun to challenge or transform several sectors.
These financial uses have led to the emergence of DeFai (Decentralized Finance + AI), a sector that now has a total value of US$600-650 million.
Outside of infrastructure and DeFai, we are also seeing the emergence of gaming-focused agents and metaverse platforms where AI agents play central roles.
Another important factor in the growth of the crypto-based agent economy is the open internet and social media, which play a crucial role in distribution and interaction between people and agents and the agents in between. Platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Telegram, Farcaster and Lens can thus act as “highways” or “nervous systems” in the agentic economy. These channels enable rapid dissemination of information, collaboration between users and agents, as well as viral attention to new projects.
With open source technology, APIs and no-code tools, developers can easily build agents that integrate seamlessly with these platforms. This creates network effects that drive the adoption of both agents and the underlying Web3 infrastructure.
Many people still ask the question; are agentcoins really just another word for memenoins? In one sense, that may be a correct observation, as several agentcoins have started out as memenoins. But the opportunities inherent in the convergence of AI and crypto have interested thousands of developers and investors who have chosen to stay away from the memoins.
At the same time, memeoins continue to be an important part of the crypto market, with a market capitalization of over $120 billion, which is a high number compared to the AI agents' combined market capitalization of well over $15 billion.
Memecoins and agentcoins will also represent two different categories in terms of functionality, utility and value proposition.
Now what? Of course, it is important to consider whether this narrative will experience the same phases as previous trends in the crypto market. Will AI agents face resistance and skepticism as we've seen with other technologies? Will the AI agents go from boom to bust?
The combination of AI and crypto represents an interesting technological development anyway. Currently, we see a rapidly changing ecosystem, with new uses emerging in finance, social media and infrastructure. At the same time, it is important to recognize that history has shown that technological paradigm shifts rarely follow linear trajectories.
The adoption of AI agents will depend on real utility, ease of use and the ability to solve existing problems. The next 12-24 months are likely to provide clearer indications as to whether this technological convergence will have lasting significance or remain a transitory phenomenon. In other words, there are good reasons to follow developments both with curious interest and a critical eye.
This article has been researched and prepared in several ways: using the author's knowledge, overview and narrative ability, via good old-fashioned search, using an analytic-based human-to-agent dialogue and through a personal quality assurance of content and sources.