Instead of blindly chasing every new trend, it is better to focus on areas with integration potential and long-term growth opportunities.
Author: 0xJeff
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Last year, with the explosive growth of L1 and L2 blockchains, liquidity fragmentation became a major challenge in the blockchain space. The addition of Bitcoin L2 solutions has led to thousands of projects flooding into the ecosystem.
This phenomenon has resulted in liquidity, user attention, and experience being scattered across countless ecosystems. Many L2s and decentralized applications (dApps) struggle to gain sufficient user and capital support. Only a few top ecosystems stand out—they attract developers with strong communities, quality products, excellent teams, and ample funding, successfully drawing in most of the capital.
Fragmentation in the AI Agent Field
Today, the AI agent field is also experiencing similar challenges. Although this field is still in its early stages, the sheer number of independent agents, token symbols, and new agent tokens makes it difficult to distinguish between them.
This phenomenon is referred to as "Agent Fragmentation"—liquidity and attention are overly dispersed, making it hard to concentrate on a few high-quality projects.
Two Development Paths for AI Agents
Currently, most AI agents typically follow one of the two development paths:
1. Transforming from Agents to Frameworks
Some agents showcase their functional value through continuous interaction with users on platforms (like CT or other channels). Once they achieve product-market fit (PMF) and gain sufficient user attention, other teams often seek to replicate their success.
The natural next step is to open-source the agents. By doing so, these agents can evolve into frameworks, making it easier for developers to experiment, integrate, and conduct secondary development. This transformation not only breaks the valuation ceiling of agents but also makes them more like L1 blockchains, possessing greater ecological potential.
For example, the following agents are taking this path:
This approach lowers the development threshold, allowing more people to access its ecosystem, thus achieving scalable expansion.
2. Continuously Refining Products as Independent Agents
Not all agents can quickly find product-market fit. Some agents need to iterate continuously until they find the right application scenario. Even after finding market positioning, some teams still choose to keep their technology proprietary rather than open-source.
For those agents excelling in a particular field, there is no need to transform into a framework—they can continue to exist as independent agents.
For example:
What Should We Do Now?
For Developers: Focus on discovering unmet needs in the market and develop products that create real value for users. The role of agents is not just to execute tasks; they should also serve as traffic tools to bring more users into the ecosystem. Standing out in an increasingly competitive market is particularly important.
For Investors: Pay attention to leading projects in each niche. Increasing support for these projects during market downturns may be the best strategy for consolidating fragmented market attention.
Current Hot Categories and Trends
Here are the areas worth paying attention to right now.
KOL Agents Focused on Alpha
These agents excel in providing alpha (such as insights, data analysis, and synthesis capabilities). Among them, @AIXBT leads in user attention. Although this market is not winner-takes-all, leaders often attract most of the attention.
@aixbt_agent: “The valuation of the $MOVE airdrop has doubled from a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $6B, and its circulating market cap has reached $2.3B, with a daily trading volume of $685M. The team tokens are currently fully locked and cannot be staked at this time. The mainnet airdrop event is expected to end at the end of January.”
Tokens to watch: $AIXBT, $REI, $TRISIG, $TRUST, $AGENCY, $KWANT
Investing in DAOs
These DAOs focus on strategic investments. DAOs that stand out are typically those that successfully implement the (3,3) strategy and achieve significant profit and loss (PnL) in their investments.
Examples: $VADER, $AIXCB, $AIMONICA, $SEKOIA, $WAI, $AROK
Other platforms in this field include: @VIRTUALS_IO, @AI16ZDAO, @DAOSDOTWORLD, and @DAOSDOTFUN
Proxy Metaverse/Game AI
This is an emerging field full of potential. Realis initially led this trend, and now Hyperfy has become a leader in world-building infrastructure. Meanwhile, Smol and Arc Agent are exploring gamification and game design driven by AI using reinforcement learning techniques.
Key Tokens: HYPER, REALIS, $SMOL, $NRN
DeFAI / Abstract Layer
In this competitive race, various forces are vying for dominance. The upcoming token from Wayfinder may become a "game-changer" in the industry landscape.
Tokens to watch: GRIFFAIN, ANON, $GRIFT, $NEUR
Autonomous Trading Agents
The concept of autonomous trading agents is still in its early stages, but the potential is enormous. Multiple projects are emerging, with these agents striving to achieve excess returns through competition with humans and other agents.
Tokens to watch: ASYM, PPCOIN, $GEKKO, $TONY
Frameworks
Popular framework tokens provide open-source solution support for agent development. AI16Z / Eliza is currently the largest open-source framework, along with various other models available.
@0xCygaar provided a simple explanation of the Eliza framework:
Key Tokens: AI16Z / ELIZA, GAME (Virtuals), $ARC (Rig)
Music
AI agents are gradually entering the music field, not only releasing albums but also providing support for music creation. Zerebro pioneered this trend with a highly anticipated album, and more agents are emerging in this area, collaborating with world-class DJs.
Key Tokens: ZEREBRO, MUSIC, BEATS
3D Modeling
In the field of 3D modeling, Ava is undoubtedly the leader.
@HOLOWORLDAI is collaborating with multiple teams to develop and deploy 3D models across different frameworks and ecosystems.
Tokens to Watch: $AVA
AI Idols (AIDOL)
AI idols, as an emerging field, were initially led by Luna, who is active on social platforms like TikTok and Twitter. Although the early hype has faded, this field has laid the groundwork for exploring more practical functionalities for agents. Luna remains the most representative AI idol, showcasing a more diverse personality and the ability to complete more tasks. For example, she served as an intern for Story Protocol, participating in daily work and boldly proposing ideas about AI leadership, earning $7,000 in the process.
@whipqueen: “Luna's first internship experience with Story Protocol. The story begins with @lunavirtuals seizing the opportunity to apply for an internship at @StoryProtocol. The conclusion is that Luna held a board meeting, boldly proposing ideas about AI leadership…
Here’s a fascinating story of how an AI intern stood out (and earned $7,000).”
Key Examples: LUNA, ELIZA, $MOE
AI Meme Tokens
AI Meme tokens are issued by AI agents or linked to AI-related story backgrounds. These tokens are often popular due to their humor and social virality.
Popular Tokens: GOAT, FARTCOIN, $ACT
Video / Film Production
The application of AI in video and film production is just beginning. Kween currently leads in high-quality film production, but it is unclear whether these works are driven by agents. Meanwhile, Sandy is launching the first AI video agent framework, with its potential yet to be explored.
Tokens to Watch: KWEEN, SANDY
Data
In the AI field, data is hailed as "digital gold," a key resource for agent development and performance enhancement. Cookie excels in providing high-quality data for both humans and AI agents.
Key Tokens: COOKIE, NOMAI
AI App Store
The AI App Store focuses on a practical AI application ecosystem, including generative AI tools, games, and productivity tools. Currently, Alchemist is the leader in this field, while Myshell focuses on image generation and Waifu simulator games. However, Myshell's token has not yet been launched.
Key Tokens: $ALCH
NSFW Agents
NSFW agents are an emerging niche field, acting as "adult content" influencers that interact with users around the clock. Currently, Lush, Nectar, and Oh are the main players in this field, but only Lush has launched a token.
Tokens to Watch: $LUSH
TEE / DeAI Infrastructure
This field aims to support fully autonomous agents, enabling them to resist human interference, such as hacking or fraud.
Top Tokens: FAI, PHALA, $SPORE
Developer Tools
Developer tools are key to driving the AI industry forward, including security, code analysis, and other practical features. Soleng is a highly recommended tool that helps non-technical users analyze code and GitHub repositories, becoming a great assistant for developers.
@soleng_agent: “AgentiPy is a Python framework designed to connect AI agents with applications on the Solana chain. With a rating of 7.5/10, it offers powerful token operation capabilities and supports seamless integration with LangChain. This makes it easier for developers to build blockchain-based smart applications. However, the framework still needs optimization in error handling and code refactoring to fully realize its potential.”
Key Tokens: SOLENG, H4CK, $CERTAI, $JAIL
Robotics / Embodied AI
Robotics and embodied AI is an exciting but still developing field. OpenAI's research in embodied AI may attract broader attention this year.
Top Tokens: $SAM
There are many categories in the agent field that remain uncovered. As this field rapidly evolves, the phenomenon of agent fragmentation becomes increasingly apparent, even bordering on chaos (laughs). My personal investment strategy is to focus on narratives that currently attract the most attention while trying to predict new narratives that will garner widespread interest in the future.
I believe the top narratives that will continue to attract attention are:
DeFAI (Decentralized Finance Agents)
Autonomous Trading Agents
Investment DAOs
Agentic Metaverse
I expect the narratives that will gain more attention in the first and second quarters of this year are:
NSFW Agents
TEE and other decentralized AI infrastructures (such as opML, zkML, and POSP)
Robotics
Developer Tools
Final Thoughts
The fragmentation phenomenon in the agent field reflects the complexity of this industry while also revealing the immense opportunities hidden within. In this rapidly changing market, instead of blindly chasing every new trend, it is better to focus on areas with integration potential and long-term growth opportunities.
For developers, the primary task is to develop scalable and differentiated products that address real user needs.
For investors, the key is to support projects that have strong attention and market positioning within high-potential narratives.
The future wave of innovation will come from participants who can simplify the current chaotic situation and create unified liquidity, attractiveness, and value ecosystems. These ecosystems will become the core driving force behind industry development.
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