Besides Ai16z, what other AI Agent projects are worth following?

Author: Edgy Source: X, @thedefiedge Translated by: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance

Currently, it is unlikely that there will be a comprehensive altcoin season, where all altcoins rise together. The altcoin market is fragmented — there are too many tokens in the market now, and the lack of liquidity cannot support the rise of all tokens (even if retail investors return in full force).

Only certain tracks will have a full copycat season. Now, the AI agent track is at this stage. While the market is generally falling, this area is constantly hitting new all-time highs. AI agents are attracting market liquidity and attention.

If you missed the DeFi summer of 2020 or the Alt Layer 1 market of 2021… market is giving you another chance! Don’t try to buck the trend, don’t be clever.

If you’ve been watching from the sidelines lately, you might be wondering if it’s “too late” to get in now? I don’t think so:

• The current market is generally sluggish, but AI infrastructure and agency projects are hitting all-time highs. Just imagine what will happen when the market rebounds.

• The entire AI agent track has only just started for about 2 months (the starting point is the launch of GOAT). Currently, these AI agents are in their “initial” state. As time goes by, we are unlocking new features every day.

Imagine how much of a difference it would make when AI agents were able to optimize your portfolio and trade directly on-chain.

• Treat AI infrastructure as Alt Layer 1, and AI agents as DApps. Some AI infrastructure protocols may reach the valuation level of Alt Layer 1 (over $10 billion).

The main difference is: Most AI infrastructure projects do not have VC support, so you do not need to worry about the selling pressure caused by large-scale token unlocks.

• The top AI protocols have not yet launched on CEX (Centralized Exchanges). I have several friends around me who are interested in this sector, but they encountered some difficulties when entering.

I will mainly discuss AI infrastructure projects because their current risk/reward ratio is optimal.

Instead of selecting individual AI agents, it is better to invest in the entire infrastructure, which is akin to “owning the whole casino.” During the gold rush, the richest people were those selling shovels and pickaxes.

Let’s delve into this track.

The Two Kings of AI Infrastructure

1. Virtuals (@virtuals_io) - Current King

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• Market Cap: $4.6 billion

• Status: The main Launchpad platform in the AI agent field

Virtuals has become the preferred Launchpad for AI agent projects, currently dominating the Base ecosystem, but it may expand to other chains in the future. Its co-founder @ethermage hinted that they are ready to launch the platform on Solana and plan to expand to @HyperliquidX and @AbstractChain in 2025.

Virtuals recently launched a series of strategic goals, such as attracting top AI agent developers and improving technology to make Virtuals the fairest platform for agent investors. Will Virtuals introduce a revenue-sharing mechanism for AI agents?

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Three Core Advantages:

1. Tokenomics Model: It takes $VIRTUALS to create a proxy, and it takes $VIRTUALS to match the liquidity of all new proxies. Almost all of the new proxy Launchpads are mimicking their tokenomics model.

2. Network Effect: Virtuals are currently attracting significant attention from the market, and launching an agency on this platform means being able to ride the coattails of the Base ecosystem.

3. Star Agent: @AIXBT is the first agent to surpass a market value of 500 million dollars.

Although I don’t like making price predictions, Virtuals may break into the top ten by market cap in this cycle.

2. Ai16z ($AI16Z) - King of Challengers

• Market Cap: $2.2 billion

• Status: The birthplace of the ElizaOS proxy framework and one of the hottest code repositories on Github.

Ai16z has had its fair share of ups and downs since its inception, but its technology and community reach have grown.

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The biggest problem was that its token economic model failed to effectively capture value. Now, they are undergoing a major reform, with a new Launchpad set to launch in the first quarter of 2025.

Starting a project on the Eliza framework will require:

• Pay the initiation fee (a portion will be returned to $AI16Z through buyback and burn)

• Hold $AI 16Z to gain access and liquidity matching opportunities

• Project tokens need to be paired with $AI16Z for liquidity to stabilize the market.

It’s like owning a share of a casino, where each new agent has to pay an “entrance fee.”

Strategy & Planning:

• Diversified Treasury Strategy: Diversify into major L1 tokens, stablecoins, and project tokens, and provide liquidity for $AI 16Z trading pairs, ensuring long-term sustainability and avoiding sell-off risks.

• Agent Swarms: AI agent swarms will be a key focus in the future, with multiple agents working collaboratively, marking the beginning of the realization of decentralized general artificial intelligence (AGI).

• Ecological Incentives: Developers building on Eliza will receive:

• Ecological Fund Support

• Revenue sharing opportunities

Make $AI16Z the “glue” of the entire decentralized AI stack, similar to how $ETH is to the Ethereum ecosystem, or $SOL is to Solana.

Who is stronger, Virtuals or Ai16z?

Advantages of Virtuals:

• Strategic foresight, leading the industry while competitors are still catching up.

The support of the Base ecosystem provides strong momentum for its growth.

Advantages of Ai16z:

• The ElizaOS framework is technologically advanced, providing a better experience for developing agents.

• The reform of the token economic model will address the value capture issue.

The crypto industry has always liked to take sides, but you don’t have to take sides. I’m not sure who’s going to win the race, so holding both outright might be an easier option. However, I’m more interested in Virtuals and its ecosystem.

Many industries ultimately evolve into a duel between two giants, such as Apple and Android, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Will this sector also witness a similar situation? Let’s wait and see.

Competitors

Virtuals and Ai16z are currently dominating the market, but this game has only just begun. If you are seeking higher returns, you might consider some more “flexible” options.

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ZereBro (Market Cap $632 Million) - Transformation Has Arrived

ZereBro was originally a universal AI agent that could also create music. But now it is transforming into a complete full-stack framework for creating other agents.

ZerePy is an open-source proxy framework based on Python, and the status of Python is self-evident:

1. Python is the most popular programming language in the world.

2. The vast majority of AI tools and libraries are written in Python.

You can use it to launch a proxy similar to ZereBro.

The Zentients Agency Platform is set to launch in early 2025. This new Launchpad will directly empower $ZEREBRO, with each created agency returning value through launch fees, liquidity pairing (LP) binding, and an innovative liquidity locking mechanism.

ZereBro has now joined the thriving ecosystem of Virtuals and launched the ZereBro/Virtual liquidity pool on @Base to expand its influence.

They are still using the successful strategies of current industry leaders, but their current valuation is much lower than that of their competitors.

$ARC (Market Cap $358 Million) - AI Agent Framework Based on Rust

Arc.fun is building an open-source proxy framework named Rig, which is currently the only proxy framework built on Rust. Rust is the native language of Solana, which is very crucial.

Why is $ARC worth paying attention to?

• Rust language can optimize performance through zero-cost abstractions.

• Rig framework performs better than Langchain in terms of memory and cold start time.

• Core contributor @0xCygaar has started contributing code to Rig Github, and he is also one of the core developers of Abstract Chain.

In short: Arc = Rust + excellent code library.

$GRIFFAIN (Market Cap $457 Million) - AI App Store on Solana

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Griffain allows you to search and execute any operation on the chain using natural language, and agents can autonomously complete on-chain transactions.

CORE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Griffain agents can automatically execute preset trades on DEX, such as dollar-cost averaging (DCA) every hour or limit orders.

• Agents can also send the latest address holdings and trading reports via email.

• The project is publicly supported by @aeyakovenko and Solana Labs, with plans to build an AI agent on Solana Mobile similar to Siri on the iPhone.

• Griffain was built by @tonyplasencia3, who was a developer for the Underdog and Blink projects on Solana.

Why is this important?

Currently, many people criticize AI agents as “just chatbots” and lacking practical applications. Meanwhile, Griffain is building the infrastructure for useful AI agents on the blockchain.

REI (Market Cap $153 Million) - A Smarter Way to Play AI Agents

REI is not just an ordinary AI agent; it is a full-stack framework that combines AI innovation with blockchain. Think of REI as an intelligent entity that can not only act but also learn, reason, and adapt.

Feature Highlights:

• REI mainly interacts with users through X (Twitter) and has natural and contextually appropriate conversational abilities.

• Oracle Bridge connects off-chain data, while the ERCData standard optimizes the gas costs of on-chain data, making on-chain AI applications more efficient.

• REI’s four-layer cognitive model (thinking, reasoning, decision-making, execution) enables agents to possess the ability to learn and self-adjust, thereby achieving deterministic execution.

Recent Catalysts:

• AI Stack SDKs: Phased rollout to lower the barrier for developers to create agents.

• Expand the Oracle Network: Laying the foundation for building on-chain real-world AI applications.

• Phase Two Plan: Comprehensive test network, advanced verification protocol, and mainnet plan for 2025.

What’s the big picture? REI’s goal is not just to build smarter robots, but to shape the future of decentralized agents through the precise combination of AI and blockchain. If you’re concerned about the future of autonomous agents, REI will be a project worth tracking for the long haul.

$VAPOR - (Market Cap: $154 million) - The first and only AI agent Launchpad on Hyperliquid

Vapor is an AI agent Launchpad natively built on Hyperliquid, using the Eliza framework from @ai16zdao.

Key Points:

• Although $AI16Z accounts for about 1.2% of Solana’s fully diluted valuation (FDV), the market capitalization of $VAPOR is only $132 million, which is equivalent to 0.47% of Hyperliquid FDV.

• After the launch, users must burn $VAPOR to activate the proxy, which means $VAPOR is a deflationary token, and the total supply will continue to decrease.

• All proxy tokens launched on Hyper EVM will be traded in a local DEX pool paired with $VAPOR. As more proxies are launched, more $VAPOR will be locked in the liquidity pool.

• Has been launched on the test network, currently all agents can approve without holding tokens.

MODE (Market Cap: $114 million) - The Intersection of AI Agents and DeFi

Mode Network can be seen as an Ethereum Layer 2, focusing on expanding DeFi to billions of users through on-chain AI agents.

“By 2026, over 80% of on-chain transactions will be completed by AI agents.” If you believe this prediction, Mode will allow you to position yourself in advance.

• TVL: Over $500 million, the third largest chain in the OP Superchain ecosystem.

• User Growth: With 367,000 users and over 24 million transactions.

• Undervalued: The MC/TVL ratio indicates potential upside.

Latest Updates on Mode:

• Synth Testnet launched: Bittensor subnet for financial prediction, unlocking DeFi intelligence.

• AI Agent Hackathon: The first hackathon attracted 667 registrants, developing over 10 Eliza plugins in just 6 days.

• AI Proxy Application Store: Multiple proxies are currently online, including:

• Amplifi: A Bitcoin abstraction layer that utilizes AI to achieve Bitcoin scaling.

• Arma: Optimize USDC yield farming.

• Brian: Allows natural language to execute transactions and contracts.

• Sturdy: Aggregates AI-driven yield vaults to enhance yield.

• QuillAI Network: A secure AI agent supported by D-LLM and EigenLayer AVS.

Vision of Mode: To build the infrastructure for the on-chain agency economy. With the Synth testnet, BitcoinOS integration, and the growing AI agency ecosystem, Mode will play an important role.

$GAME (Market Cap: $390 Million) - Pillar of the Virtuals Framework

GAME is the first infrastructure project that allows developers to integrate AI agents into games.

Description from Virtuals:

“Every society has core infrastructure to drive its development and growth. @game_virtuals plays the role of Shopify in the Virtuals ecosystem, while @base is similar to SWIFT.”

Significant Progress:

• Developed directly by the Virtuals Protocol team.

• $GAME is the pillar of the virtual economy, and every time an AI agent operates, $GAME is paid as an operational expense.

• GAME has supported over 200 projects and handles more than 150,000 requests daily.

• In the Virtuals ecosystem, G.A.M.E ranked first in 30-day performance, with growth approaching 400%.

• GAME has the most Lifetime Inferences, exceeding 2.2 million.

Why is $GAME undervalued? People do not know much about its functions, and even the G.A.M.E team has not actively promoted it (the official account has only 5 tweets and hasn’t even changed the Twitter header image).

A similar but riskier option is CONVO, which powers AI agent conversations on Virtuals.

Soul Graph ($GRPH, Market Cap: $36 million) - Making AI agents more human-like

Imagine if other frameworks shape the “hard skills” of agents, then Soul Graph shapes their “soft skills” to make AI agents more human-like. Its framework is designed to add personality to new or existing AI agents, giving them lasting memory and real-time communication capabilities.

“We are building open-source tools and infrastructure that allow developers to give agents evolving personalities, persistent memories, and real-time communication capabilities.”

Key Points:

• Over 2000 “souls” have been created, providing 15,000 minutes of voice interaction time in the Soul Graph Playground.

• Recently integrated the AI16Z plugin.

• 85% of the total token supply is allocated to the community, and the allocation for the development team is locked with a vesting period of 1 year.

Reasons why I am optimistic about this project:

Character AI is hot. The average user spends hours a day chatting with AI, and Google just acquired Character.ai for $2.7 billion. Imagine if users could interact with AI agents with human personalities in real-time. Soul Graph is making this happen.

Other projects worth noting

• Bully (@dolos_diary): Initially a “complaint” account, it has now developed a framework for a social media AI agent @dolion_ai.

• TopHat (@tophat_one): AI agent Launchpad on Solana.

• Swarm Node (@Swarmnode): Similar to AWS Lambda, but specifically designed for AI agents and frameworks.

• Cookie Fun (@cookiedotfun): An AI-powered data tracking platform for proxies, similar to DeFiLlama/Kaito, tracking the influence, market share, and more of proxies. Advanced features require holding tokens for access.

How to choose?

First of all, Virtuals and AI16z are essential configurations. They are clearly dominating the market, and I don’t see this trend slowing down in the short term; the network effects cannot be underestimated.

If considering other potential projects, I focus on the following points:

• LaunchPad on New Chains: This is a strategy template from 2021, with Virtuals dominating the Base, so LaunchPads can be found on other popular chains, like $VAPOR which has seen an amazing surge on Hyperliquid.

• Niche Market Strategy: It is becoming increasingly difficult to launch generic L1/L2 solutions; focusing on niche markets presents more opportunities. For example, Mode focuses on the integration of AI agents and DeFi, while Griffain concentrates on natural language interaction.

• Programming Language: Infrastructure needs proxies, proxies need developers, and developers have their own preferred languages. Therefore, Zerebro (Python) and Arc (Rust) are highly competitive.

AI Investment Portfolio Ideas

1**.Buddha Combination** - 50% in Virtuals, 50% in ai16z. This simple combination may outperform 80% of investors.

2. Alpha/Beta Combo - Use Virtuals as a core alpha investment and choose a competing framework such as Arc or Griffain as a beta option.

3. Barbell Strategy - Virtuals and ai16z as “stable” bets, combined with various high-risk A.I. proxy projects.

4.Comprehensive Layout - Invest in infrastructure Alpha, add some Beta projects, and then diversify investments into A.I. agent projects with different risk levels. This includes leading agents like @aixbt, as well as configuring some smaller projects with a market cap below $10m.

Criticism of the AI Agent Track

“There are too many Launchpads and frameworks” – Brothers, have you seen how many L1s and L2s there are now? We are developing very well. This field is new and progressing rapidly. If we want to build a new city, it makes sense to first pave the roads, build bridges, and lay pipes.

“Most of it is garbage, and it will ultimately go to zero” – This is the crypto world, and most things indeed will go to zero. But those that survive will change the rules of the game.

“The AI track has already peaked” – You are destined not to succeed. Don’t be smart and take the middle path.

“All AI agents are terrible” – Do you remember the time when people were afraid to shop online? I also remember that the first generation iPhone couldn’t even copy and paste. We are still in the early stages, this is a bet on the future.

Conclusion

I know this cycle will usher in a bull market, but I’m not sure what new, game-changing primitives will emerge.

Every cycle will have a moment like “DeFi” or “NFT” – a track that reinvigorates developers, a track that makes retail investors have an epiphany and go wild.

I once doubted whether this moment would really come. But the good news is… it has arrived. This is your chance to achieve financial freedom - don’t mess it up.