This article is from: SendAI Head Yash Agarwal
Translation｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Editor's Note: The Solana AI Hackathon hosted by SendAI has been underway for some time, but due to the ongoing rise in AI narratives, the community's enthusiasm for related projects remains unabated.
On-chain analysis research firm Pine Analytics reported yesterday that there are as many as 65 tokens created or directly associated with projects from this hackathon, with a total market capitalization of $482 million, an average market cap of $7.5 million, and a median market cap of $1.7 million; 13 tokens have a market cap exceeding $10 million, and 42 tokens have a market cap exceeding $1 million.
However, amidst such fervent community sentiment, SendAI founder Yash Agarwal today published a lengthy article criticizing the current hype phenomenon—Yash emphasized that the hackathon homepage had only 40,000 visits in the past week, yet a random token can quickly reach a market cap of $50 million… SendAI originally intended to build a platform to boost the development of AI in the Solana ecosystem, but it has now become a "casino for the fallen." In Yash's view, the current bubble will lead developers to become blind and short-sighted, which is detrimental to the long-term development of Solana AI. Therefore, it is necessary to point out some absurd situations; otherwise, the industry will soon witness a "great disaster."
Below is the full text from Yash, translated by Odaily Planet Daily.
When we launched this hackathon, I had a simple vision—to make Solana the AI blockchain and achieve tenfold growth.
I believe hackathons are the best feasible way to achieve this goal, as we can gather everyone under one roof, and I can personally invest in promising Crypto x AI Agent projects.
In the past month, I can say that the Solana AI hackathon has not only established its brand but has completely changed the landscape of AI Agents in the Solana ecosystem. Completing over 400 projects in 15 days is no easy feat, and my team and I are incredibly proud of our contribution to adding $500 million to $1 billion in market value to the Solana AI ecosystem.
Of course, when we launched this hackathon, we had a premonition that due to this strange Crypto x AI Agent model, there would be some related token issuances. If developers are using tokens as a means of capital accumulation with the goal of building excellent products, then there is absolutely no problem. We also carefully designed all eight tracks (sponsors have no say in this) to encourage truly useful AI Agents.
But we did not expect it to turn into a "casino for the fallen." To give everyone a clearer idea of the numbers, the Solana AI hackathon project homepage had only over 40,000 visitors in the past week, yet now 2 to 3 hackathon-related tokens are quickly reaching a market cap of $50 million daily, with the cumulative value of all related tokens exceeding $500 million. Unintentionally, the Solana AI hackathon has become a discovery platform for AI tokens.
Speculation Driven
The current situation is basically as follows:
(Project parties) submit projects in the hackathon and appear in the Solana AI hackathon project directory;
Use Solana AI hackathon/SendAI to gain credibility;
Release tokens → Attract whales and KOLs for promotion → Boom! Immediately complete a token issuance of $5 million to $50 million;
In the eyes of gamblers, through early ape-in operations, they can potentially gain 100 times returns from hackathon-related projects, making the hackathon a perfect investment venue.
This is not a new story; it is a typical power-law distribution-driven speculation.
While I am glad to see some developers launching tokens for necessary early capital accumulation, the problem is that the current bubble is too large.
Although this is closer to a fair issuance (similar to an ICO), I believe this is not the best direction for us to move forward.
Developers are Becoming Blind
This extremely high pace of token issuance is making developers short-sighted and blind.
Currently, 90% of Crypto x AI projects are no different from meme tokens based on cat/dog concepts. Of course, if they are aware of this, that is completely fine… However, many projects promote their tokens as "utility tokens," which is actually a bigger scam.
The current pace is detrimental to real developers (especially the weaker ones) from a long-term perspective, as they now have to consider short-term issues.
Most Agent/Infra projects have realized that tokens are the best way to gain attention: token issuance → Agent/Framework "viral" spread (but users are 0) → token pump → everyone is happy…
Many projects simply released some announcements or demos (even with a market cap of over $200 million) to please token holders, achieving a quick pump (stimulating the dopamine of holders), after which whales and conspiracy groups start to hype "amazing technology" to dump on retail gamblers.
Many developers know their products cannot be promoted or operated in production, so they can only keep demonstrating or releasing "X x Y" announcements. Please name some real-time, scalable, truly on-chain Agent products; I will be waiting in the comments.
Conspiracy Groups/Whales/KOLs are Worse VCs, They Have No Reputation Burden
Conspiracy groups and whales are making this game dirtier and dirtier.
They fabricate lies (claiming "supported by xxx," but in reality, they just retweeted or casually praised) to snipe early supply or persuade developers to allocate a certain share. They also incite people in their gambler groups and then continuously sell (or will eventually sell), harming the interests of retail investors and developers.
Remember, their tokens have no lock-up restrictions, as most tokens are issued through pump.fun.
Some Advice for Developers
Please do not issue tokens just for the sake of issuing them, especially if you do not hold a significant proportion of the tokens. Trust me, if your token holding is less than 5%, once the price starts to drop, you will have no motivation to continue building.
Yes, tokens may surge in the short term, and you may experience a quick dopamine rush from issuing tokens worth $50 million or $100 million, but once the price corrects, you will lose the motivation to continue building. There will also be a bunch of lousy "shareholders" who want you to keep developing because they heard a lot of hype from conspiracy groups/KOLs about "how amazing this project is."
Always remember, tokens are technically an asset, but emotionally they are also a huge burden. Launching a token is very easy; I have managed a token over the past six months and experienced all these low moments. I can tell you that managing a token is not fun. A token itself is a large product that needs management.
When the price drops, those communities, KOLs, or conspiracy groups will be of no help; you can only fight alone, and at best, they will just mock or criticize you.
Issuing tokens for the purpose of accumulating startup capital is not a problem; just don’t rush to hop on the current bandwagon if you are not prepared.
Look further ahead and ask yourself: "Even if the token's market cap is below $500,000, would you still be willing to continue building this project for the next six months?" If the answer is yes, then go ahead and launch your token. If necessary, you should retain appropriate funds and team shares at the time of issuance— as a project developer, you have every right to become wealthy in the long run through your baby (project).
For those hackathon developers who have already launched tokens, if they lack foresight, then I wish them good luck managing their tokens; we can talk again in six months.
I will not name anyone specifically for now, but I can give a good example. My little brother Umang created Cleopetra in this hackathon, which is an AI Agent aimed at improving the DEX LP experience. They have no plans to launch a token yet, but they are harassed daily by fake tokens and gamblers, with the community constantly urging them to announce a CA. Of course, he is strong and has not launched a token yet. After the hackathon ends, I will personally help him.
If you are a weak developer without foresight who succumbed to the casino-like temptation and launched a token, to be honest, I do not respect you as a developer; you are a fraud. No matter if your token is worth $100 million or $500 million, I will criticize you when the time comes.
If you have not launched a token, how should you respond?
Hang in there! Also, indicate in your X that "there is no token," and never imply token issuance; continue building and developing. For those false token issuance behaviors, you really can do nothing; fighting against them is useless. If someone is still ape-ing in like a monkey without doing any research, they deserve it. Just ignore them or block them directly.
To KOLs and Gamblers
To Crypto x AI KOLs, we are all friends, but I hope you can be responsible for what you promote (especially tokens). Guide developers well and do not be misled by quick token distributions or influence. You wouldn’t want to be seen as a fraud when the price drops.
As for gamblers, or simply all of us, do not buy things you do not understand or even want to understand just because your favorite KOL shouts a recommendation. Seeking instant gratification will ultimately be your burden to bear.
About the Results of the Hackathon
Many respected figures in the industry have approached me with requests, such as launching a token list or popular selections, revealing the end date of the hackathon, or even disclosing the results of the hackathon.
I have received at least over 50 private messages, some even offering bribes/token distribution schemes.
Sorry, we will not disclose the exact end date and final results (including the list of judges, each judge has a separate form, and we will organize all of this) to anyone before the official announcement.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
When we decided to launch this hackathon, we had no funding or support; everything was built on blood, sweat, and tears, along with our intrinsic passion for making Solana AI grow tenfold. SendAI is an umbrella organization established after the Solana AI hackathon. We took this gamble, and the results have been very good.
At this point, we want to take our professional ethics seriously and strive for the best honesty in our thoughts. We really do not care who you are.
To reduce speculation, we have also made a difficult decision—to cancel the demo day and instead have the hackathon results announced directly by Solana or SendAI officials. Developers need not worry; we will have events even more exciting than the demo day afterward.
What’s Next?
Honestly, I still do not know what the best solution is for the token issuance issue in terms of capital structure. However, I hope we can come up with some solutions, and I will personally think about this in my spare time. Given that this is a recent issue (less than a month), we are still in the early stages and still have the opportunity to address this problem.
In short, I am very optimistic about the Crypto x AI Agent agency; this is definitely an industry worth over $100 billion.
SendAI, Solana AI hackathon, Solana Agent toolkit—these are all completely spontaneous public products, delivered within the past month. The market is not yet ready for our upcoming plans.
Although my brain tells me to wait for the results to come out before publishing this article, I followed my heart and published it now. From an industry perspective, we need to point out some absurdities; otherwise, we will soon witness a great disaster.
Remember, the casino always exists, and the house always wins.
These views are entirely my personal opinions and do not represent anyone else. Thank you for listening to my lengthy discourse; I will definitely write about my optimism for Crypto x AI Agents another day, but there will be no token recommendations.
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