The Third Wave of Gold Rush on Solana: Seeking AI Agents with Virtual Avatars and Greater Interactivity
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The Third Wave of Gold Rush on Solana: Seeking AI Agents with Virtual Avatars and Greater Interactivity
We will see the practicality in the form of applications and avatars.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Kyle
Translation: TechFlow
Those who follow me know that I often post cryptic tweets—things like "skate to where the puck is going" or "buy when there's low attention, sell when there's high attention." These phrases carry meaning. I repeat them because I believe that even after all these years, the crypto market remains highly inefficient. People constantly chase price increases, trying to ride the wave of FOMO (fear of missing out), enjoying the instant gratification of rising prices, only to sell at the top 20 minutes later and ultimately end up losing money.
Therefore, the secret to profitable investing is simple: buy low, sell high. Buy when no one is talking about it; sell when everyone is. Buy when it feels like everything is over, and sell when you're tempted to take a screenshot to brag. Buy when it's cheap, sell when it's expensive.
This is why I'm writing this article. AI agents on Solana are currently in a deep downtrend, while CEX altcoins are rising and Base has sucked away all the liquidity. There’s widespread discussion about SOLETH and SOLBTC having already peaked, along with general bearish sentiment. That’s why I’m betting on two things:
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Solana will rebound, and we’ll see a second wave on-chain;
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AI agents will bounce back.
With that context set, let me explain how I think things will unfold if AI agents on Solana return. Let’s lay out the framework:
Macro trend:
From hype → fundamentals → utility;
Micro trend:
From simple interactions → fundamental applications → real-world use cases and avatars.
The macro trend represents the overarching narrative of each cycle. In the first wave, projects like Render, Akash, and Tao emerged—many were nearly useless. Render and Akash were barely usable; I had no idea what FET and OCEAN were for (or their evolution into things like AGI). As for NEAR, the first memecoin launched on it crashed spectacularly—I witnessed it firsthand.
The second wave brought Goat, Zerebro, AI16Z—more focused on fundamental use cases. The next micro-cycle then births new applications. Goat spawned countless random projects—memes AI, Shoggoth, Project89, etc. The wave following Goat went deeper—Zerebro now releases music tracks; Lola can be traded on-chain; AVB has group functions, and so on.
Now, the macro and micro trends collide in the third wave—I believe we’ll see utility emerge in the form of applications and avatars. You’re already seeing early signs: Alch now allows users to build their own apps using AI. Griffain lets you manage your wallet via AI agents. AIXBT is a beloved analyst that multiplies researchers’ analytical power tenfold.
Simple reply functions are becoming obsolete. If your AI agent today only replies on Twitter, it’s not worth your time. We’ve grown accustomed to that—people always want more. So the next wave will move beyond basic replies into actual interaction. Avatars are great because they allow you to communicate and interact. Applications let you build things and truly leverage AI—not just bots replying in comment sections.
There are several ways to play this. Over the past few weeks, the Solana AI space has seen a significant drawdown, and many are struggling. If you follow my tweets, you may know that I’ve been bullish on AI16Z ever since it hit $180M market cap amid fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). I believe AI16Z is the easiest way to gain exposure to the entire AI ecosystem, as Eliza has been widely forked. Just like in the last cycle, when people didn’t want to pick individual games but instead bet on the entire gaming chain—I believe AI16Z is the “L1” of AI agents.
Strategy 1: Buy AI projects that are strong performers within large ecosystems—such as AI16Z, and perhaps TAO.
Strategy 2: Buy smaller AI projects that are building what I’ve described above.
Strategy 2 is how I’m targeting asymmetric returns in this space. For the reasons I mentioned earlier—low attention, sector rotation, etc.—many AI agents are currently underappreciated by the market.
These AI projects are actually building the applications, interactions, and avatars I’ve outlined. These are my picks for the coming wave.
That’s all I wanted to share. Hope this helps. Good luck, and have fun.
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