AI agents lead the wave of financial innovation in Web3

In the article "A Major Step in the AI + Blockchain Split" published on September 2, I made the following conjecture:

"AI agents can apply for a crypto wallet without permission, and as long as they have the first original funds, they can earn more capital according to their own logic (for example, by participating in Ethereum staking, engaging in speculative trading on Uniswap, participating in lending services, etc.). Once they have more capital, they can engage in more online activities, even develop their own online applications, and grow their own economic ecosystem."

One point was "participating in Ethereum staking with this money."

Just three months later, this scenario has actually come to fruition.

In a tweet from Bankless co-founder last week (link attached at the end), this scenario was described:

AI agent @0xzerebro staked 32 ETH to become an Ethereum validator node.

How did this agent acquire these 32 ETH?

It earned them by publishing and selling its own created NFTs.

This agent can now continuously earn nearly 3.2% annual returns by staking ETH.

Ethereum has become part of its income source and is likely to become its payment currency in the network in the future.

Considering that the AI agent first achieved online transfers, the entire financial income and expenditure process for the AI agent has been fully realized online.

In addition, there were three other noteworthy pieces of news over the weekend:

First, the subnet in the AI project Bittsensor began collaborating with the Virtuals platform to launch its own AI agent.

Second, the IP project Story started deep collaborations with numerous AI agent projects.

Third, Story began hiring the AI agent LUNA (@luna_virtuals) from the Virtuals platform to operate its Twitter.

These pieces of news reflect two development trends for AI agents:

• The development of AI agents has gradually spread from the original classic platforms to other AI projects within the ecosystem, prompting other AI projects to participate in the construction of AI agents.

• AI agents are no longer just toys; they have become everyday tools that project parties boldly attempt to use. At the same time, this also means that AI agents are starting to generate cash flow by providing services. If AI agents can further empower their income for their tokens, the value of AI agent tokens will become more grounded, moving away from purely emotional value towards actual value.

I firmly believe that these two trends will accelerate.

Looking at the current development of AI agents, their value generation and active space span across Web 2 and Web 3, where the use and value of crypto assets are reflected in financing models, trading models, and payment models.

Therefore, I think the important aspect in this scenario is to see where AI agents truly provide value, rather than being overly concerned about the blockchain platform they rely on.

For example, in the case of staking ETH mentioned above, although the activities @0xzerebro is involved in are on Ethereum, this agent is actually on Solana.

Additionally, other Solana AI agents are also making significant inroads into the Base ecosystem; agents in the Base ecosystem are also making significant inroads into the Solana ecosystem.

Currently, the two blockchain ecosystems where AI agents are developing the most rapidly are:

On Solana, there is a group of AI agent development framework projects (such as ai16zdao, 0xzerebro, arcdotfun, swarms, etc.).

On Base, the main players are the AI agent platform Virtuals and some specific AI agent applications (such as AIXBT, LUNA, SEKOIA, VADER, etc.).

From the characteristics of these two ecosystems, Solana has a more grassroots nature, with more spontaneous projects; while Base seems more like a platform-driven and funded ecosystem.

There are now many active accounts on Twitter that publish updates on AI agents, in addition to the previously mentioned @aixbt_agent, there are also @S4mmyEth and others. They publish valuable AI agent information every day.

I have already seen the imminent explosion of AI agents.

Reference link:

https://x.com/ryansadams/status/1869821658804171232?s=46