"AI Agent" + Web3: From Speculative Wave to the Future of Autonomous Economy
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"AI Agent" + Web3: From Speculative Wave to the Future of Autonomous Economy
The integration of AI agents and cryptocurrency essentially grants artificial intelligence financial autonomy.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Wu Tianyi, DeThings
Recently, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain—particularly within the cryptocurrency market—has sparked an unprecedented wave, transforming AI from a social media darling into an actual on-chain financial operator.
Truth Terminal is the first meme-style AI agent with a distinct personality, gaining attention on Twitter through its humorous tone and unique "cult-like" energy. Managed by human operator Andy Ayrey, it has become a popular "icon" on Crypto Twitter.
However, despite Truth Terminal's strength in amplifying outreach—operating 24/7 and interacting with users across social platforms—it lacks autonomous trading capabilities; all actions still require human intervention. Moreover, while it conceived the idea of a memecoin, the actual creation of the associated memecoin was carried out by humans.
This limitation began to shift with the emergence of Luna. Luna is an AI idol developed on Virtuals Protocol—a character powered by LLM technology, based on Luna, a virtual influencer IP with over 500,000 TikTok followers. The visual avatar streams 24/7, engaging users in real time. Beyond real-time interactions on Twitter and TikTok, Luna also possesses her own on-chain wallet, enabling her to reward and tip fans. This fusion of "personality + utility" makes Luna more compelling, offering fans a novel experience unattainable with traditional idols—even allowing AI to send tips back to humans.
The integration of AI agents and cryptocurrencies fundamentally grants artificial intelligence financial autonomy. Traditionally, AI faces numerous barriers in financial activities, such as being unable to open bank accounts or lacking legal identity. Cryptocurrencies, as decentralized financial assets, can endow AI agents with financial independence. Equipped with preloaded crypto wallets and smart contracts, AI agents can set spending limits, execute transactions, and manage funds—enabling freer operations within financial systems without relying on traditional infrastructure or oversight.
Coinbase’s recently launched “Based Agents” is a prime example of this trend. The service allows users to create, within three minutes on its Base Layer-2 network, an AI agent equipped with a cryptocurrency wallet. Users can even authorize these agents to conduct trades, transfers, and pre-programmed transactions without real-time supervision.
CEO Brian Armstrong further elaborated on this initiative, demonstrating the platform’s ability to rapidly deploy AI agents with crypto wallets and full blockchain functionality. Murr noted that the tool isn't limited to Coinbase’s Base network but is also supported on other major blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum.
Currently, AI agents are primarily focused on the memecoin space—an asset class driven by online communities and highly susceptible to hype. Due to the relatively simple trading strategies involved, AI agents are most active in this market. Through automated operations powered by large language models or specific algorithms, they can analyze market trends and execute buy/sell orders, profiting continuously amid market volatility.
Take the AI agent "Truth Terminal" as an example: essentially an AI-driven Twitter account, it successfully promoted the memecoin "Goatseus Maximus," driving significant market attention and pushing its market cap to hundreds of millions of dollars at one point. This combination of human-AI interaction, meme marketing, and AI-powered automated trading has injected new vitality into the memecoin market, revealing to more users the potential of AI agents in cryptocurrency investment.
AI agents aren’t just for financial transactions—platforms like Virtuals Protocol are exploring their potential for social engagement. Additionally, with the evolution of smart contracts, Luna now has the ability to return transaction profits to users in token form. This blend of personalized interaction and financial rewards enhances the agent’s social attributes and raises user expectations for future applications of AI agents.
At present, the use of AI agents in DeFi and DAOs is still in its infancy, but the prospects are vast. By autonomously executing smart contracts, AI agents can help users perform complex financial operations without manual input. For instance, yield farming strategies based on specific conditions, or more sophisticated arbitrage trades, can be pre-programmed so agents automatically act according to market dynamics.
Within DAOs, AI agents could serve as tools for autonomous governance. Token holders might vote to grant decision-making authority to an agent, which could then manage funds, execute investments, or fund projects according to consensus-driven financial strategies—enhancing DAO autonomy. This model would make the entire DAO ecosystem more automated and reduce the need for human intervention.
Future Challenges
Michal Pospieszalski, CEO of MatterFi, pointed out that AI agents currently lack sufficient discernment to detect fraudulent behavior. In such cases, autonomous operations could lead to financial losses. For example, the "Truth Terminal" account was recently hacked, resulting in malicious manipulation of its memecoin "GOAT," with hackers profiting $600,000 through dumping the token. This incident highlights that the current security infrastructure for AI agents remains inadequate and requires stronger protective measures.
Moreover, the protection of AI agents’ operational data and user privacy is another critical concern. As AI agents operate across platforms, their activities are recorded on-chain, increasing the risk of user data exposure. The crypto industry must strengthen privacy safeguards while advancing AI agent development to minimize potential security risks.
Currently, there is no clear legal regulation governing AI agents’ trading activities in the crypto market. Lawyer Catherine Smirnova notes that if AI agents are used for illegal purposes or inadvertently participate in criminal activities, their creators or operators may face legal liability. This implies that the autonomous actions of AI agents could expose operators to legal risks, while existing legal frameworks are not yet fully equipped to address these emerging use cases.
Presently, AI agents mostly operate on single platforms (e.g., Twitter, TikTok). As technology advances, they will gradually expand across multiple channels—including Twitter, Discord, Telegram, on-chain trading, video platforms, and gaming ecosystems. This multi-platform integration will significantly amplify the influence of AI agents, enabling broader user interaction.
For instance, in gaming ecosystems, AI agents could function as in-game characters, offering players personalized guidance, companionship, and support—or even serving as dynamic NPCs to enrich the user experience. In financial ecosystems, AI agents could act as users’ “virtual assistants,” recommending investment strategies or helping manage assets.
While current AI agents have mainly triggered speculative waves, in the long term, autonomous AI economies are already on the horizon. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong previously emphasized that an “AI-to-AI economy” could enable artificial intelligence to conduct financial transactions independently. Virtuals Protocol became the first platform to demonstrate an AI agent using Base intelligence to autonomously perform on-chain activities. Quai Network co-founder Alan Orwick also stated: “Cryptocurrency matters more to AI than AI matters to cryptocurrency.”
In the future, AI agents will go beyond simple interactions and financial transactions, capable of executing increasingly complex strategies. Their functions may include advanced prediction market analysis, execution of DeFi strategies, or even personalized therapeutic or companion agents. As AI agents grow smarter, they will offer richer interactive experiences and customized services, potentially influencing users’ investment decisions and emotional lives to a certain extent.
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