Recently, the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, especially in the cryptocurrency market, has sparked an unprecedented wave, evolving from a social media darling to an actual on-chain financial operator.

Written by: Wu Tianyi, DeThings

Recently, the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, especially in the cryptocurrency market, has sparked an unprecedented wave, evolving from a social media darling to an actual on-chain financial operator.

Truth Terminal is the first meme-based AI agent with a distinct personality, becoming a hot topic on Twitter with its humorous speech style and unique "cult" energy. Its human administrator, Andy Ayrey, manages its account, making it a popular "idol" in Crypto Twitter.

However, despite Truth Terminal's enhanced dissemination capabilities, it lacks autonomous trading ability; all operations still require human intervention. Moreover, although it conceptualized the birth of memecoins, the related memecoins were also created by humans.

This shortcoming was improved with the emergence of Luna. Luna is an AI idol on the Virtuals Protocol, based on LLM technology, and is a virtual idol IP with over 500,000 TikTok fans, continuously playing a visualized virtual character and interacting with users in real-time. Not only does Luna interact with fans in real-time on Twitter and TikTok, but it also has its own on-chain wallet, allowing it to provide tips and rewards to fans. This combination of "personality + utility" makes Luna more attractive and allows fans to experience a freshness that traditional idol interactions cannot reach; Luna can even give back on-chain tips to humans.

The combination of AI agents and cryptocurrency essentially grants artificial intelligence financial autonomy. Traditionally, AI faces many restrictions in financial activities, such as the inability to open bank accounts and lack of legal identity. As a decentralized financial asset, cryptocurrency can empower AI agents with financial autonomy. By pre-installing crypto wallets and smart contracts, AI agents can set spending limits, execute financial transactions, and manage funds. This allows AI agents to operate more freely within the financial system without relying on traditional financial systems and regulations.

Coinbase's recent launch of "Based Agents" is also a typical representative of this development trend. This service allows users to create an AI agent with a crypto wallet on its Base Layer 2 network in three minutes, and users can even choose to authorize these agents to conduct transactions, transfers, and programmed trades without real-time supervision.

CEO Brian Armstrong further elaborated on this statement, showcasing the platform's ability to quickly deploy AI agents with crypto wallets and full blockchain functionality. Murr stated that this tool is not limited to Coinbase's Base network but is also supported by other major blockchains such as Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum.

Currently, AI agents are concentrated in the memecoin sector, a type of cryptocurrency driven by online communities and easily influenced by speculation. Due to the relatively simple trading strategies of memecoins, AI agents are currently the most active in this market. Through automated operations based on large language models or specific algorithms, AI agents can analyze market trends and execute buy and sell operations, thus profiting from continuous market fluctuations.

Taking the AI agent "Truth Terminal" as an example, "Truth Terminal" is essentially an AI-driven Twitter account, but it successfully promoted the memecoin "Goatseus Maximus" by creating and promoting it, gaining attention for the token in the market, with its market cap reaching hundreds of millions at one point. This combination of human-machine interaction, meme marketing, and AI automated trading has injected new vitality into the memecoin market and allowed more users to see the potential of AI agents in cryptocurrency investment.

AI agents are not only used for financial trading; platforms like Virtuals Protocol are exploring the social interaction potential of AI agents. Additionally, with the continuous development of smart contracts, Luna also has the capability to return trading profits to users in the form of tokens. This approach of combining personalized interaction with financial rewards not only enhances the social attributes of the agents but also raises user expectations for the application scenarios of AI agents.

Currently, the application of AI agents in DeFi and DAOs is just beginning, but the prospects are broad. AI agents can help users complete complex financial operations without human intervention through the autonomous execution of smart contracts. For example, yield farming strategies based on specific conditions or more complex arbitrage trades can be pre-programmed, allowing agents to execute operations automatically based on market conditions.

In DAOs, AI agents could potentially become tools for autonomous management. For instance, certain token holders could vote to grant decision-making power to agents, which could manage funds according to consensus financial strategies, execute investments or project developments, further realizing the autonomy of the DAO. This model will promote a more automated nature of the entire DAO ecosystem and reduce the possibility of human intervention.

Future Challenges

MatterFi CEO Michal Pospieszalski pointed out that AI agents currently lack sufficient discernment to identify fraudulent activities. In such cases, the autonomous operations of AI agents could lead to financial losses. For example, the recent hacking of the "Truth Terminal" account resulted in malicious manipulation of the memecoin "GOAT," with hackers profiting $600,000 by dumping the token. This incident indicates that the current security infrastructure for AI agents is not yet perfect and requires further protective measures.

Moreover, the operational data of AI agents and the protection of user privacy are also issues that need attention. As AI agents operate on different platforms, their data is recorded on the blockchain, increasing the risk of user information leakage. The crypto industry must strengthen privacy protection while promoting the development of AI agents to reduce potential security risks.

Currently, the trading behavior of AI agents in the crypto market lacks clear legal regulation. Lawyer Catherine Smirnova pointed out that if AI agents are used for illegal purposes or inadvertently participate in criminal activities, their creators or operators may bear corresponding responsibilities. This means that the autonomous actions of AI agents could pose legal risks to operators, while the existing legal framework has not fully covered these new application scenarios.

At present, AI agents mainly operate on single platforms (such as Twitter, TikTok, etc.), but as technology develops, AI agents will gradually expand to more platforms, covering Twitter, Discord, Telegram, on-chain trading, and even video platforms and gaming ecosystems. This multi-channel integration will further expand the influence of AI agents, enabling them to interact with users on a larger scale.

For example, in gaming ecosystems, AI agents can serve as virtual characters in games, providing players with personalized guidance, companionship, and assistance, or even acting as dynamic NPCs to enrich user experience. In financial ecosystems, AI agents can act as users' "virtual assistants," recommending investment strategies or helping with asset management.

Currently, AI agents have only triggered a speculative wave, but in the long run, achieving AI autonomous economy is on the way. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong previously emphasized that the "AI to AI economy" allows artificial intelligence to autonomously conduct financial transactions, with Virtuals Protocol being the first protocol to showcase AI entities using blockchain for autonomous on-chain activities. Quai Network co-founder Alan Orwick also stated, "Cryptocurrency has a greater role for artificial intelligence than the other way around."

In the future, AI agents will no longer be limited to simple interactions and financial transactions but will be able to execute more complex strategies. Their functions may include advanced predictive market analysis, execution of decentralized financial strategies, and even personalized therapeutic or companionship agents. As the intelligence of AI agents increases, they will be able to provide users with richer interactive experiences and personalized services, potentially influencing users' investment decisions and emotional lives to a certain extent.

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