"DeFAI": As summer approaches, how will AI reshape the future of DeFi?
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"DeFAI": As summer approaches, how will AI reshape the future of DeFi?
DeFi will welcome the "summer" of DeFAI in 2025.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: 0xJeff, Crypto Influencer
Translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats
Editor's Note: In this article, Jeff discusses how DeFAI (Decentralized Finance + Artificial Intelligence) simplifies, optimizes, and enhances the DeFi experience through abstraction layers, autonomous trading agents, and AI-powered dApps. He introduces several emerging DeFAI projects such as Almanak, Cod3x, and Mode, emphasizing the role of AI in improving trading strategies and portfolio management.
Below is the original content (slightly edited for clarity and readability):
DeFi has long been the backbone of Web3. It makes blockchains practical by enabling instant global fund transfers, on-chain asset investments, permissionless lending, and stacking yield-generating strategies across DeFi protocols. This is financial freedom at your fingertips.
More importantly, DeFi solves real-world problems. It grants unbanked individuals access to financial services, removes intermediaries, and operates 24/7—creating a truly global and inclusive financial system.
Yet in reality, DeFi remains complex. Setting up wallets, managing gas fees, avoiding scams and rug pulls—it’s not designed for the average user. The ever-expanding landscape of L1s, L2s, and cross-chain ecosystems only adds to the complexity. For most people, the barrier to entry is simply too high.
This complexity limits DeFi’s growth—but with the emergence of DeFAI, that’s beginning to change.
What is DeFAI?
DeFAI (DeFi + AI) makes DeFi more accessible. By leveraging AI technology, it simplifies complicated interfaces and removes barriers for everyday users. Imagine a world where managing your DeFi portfolio is as easy as chatting with ChatGPT.
The first wave of DeFAI projects is already emerging, primarily focused on three areas:
1. Abstraction Layers
2. Autonomous Trading Agents
3. AI-Powered dApps
1. Abstraction Layers
Abstraction layers aim to hide the complexity of DeFi behind intuitive interfaces. They allow users to interact with DeFi protocols using natural language commands instead of navigating complex dashboards.
Prior to AI, intent-based architectures had already simplified trade execution. Platforms like CoWSwap and symm io enable users to get optimal pricing across fragmented liquidity pools, solving the issue of liquidity fragmentation. However, they didn’t solve the core problem: DeFi still feels hard.
Now, AI-powered solutions are bridging this gap:
Griffain was the first project to launch a token and is currently in early access, requiring an invitation to use.
Griffain is more general-purpose, allowing users to perform a wide range of operations—from simple tasks to complex automation such as DCA setups, launching Memecoins, and participating in airdrops.
Orbit / Grift was the second to launch a token, with its product targeting on-chain DeFi experiences. Orbit emphasizes cross-chain functionality, having integrated over 117 chains and 200 protocols—the highest among the three projects.
Neur is the third project to launch a token and, due to its open-source nature, quickly surpassed Orbit in valuation. Neur positions itself as Solana’s co-pilot, specifically designed for the Solana ecosystem. It is powered by sendaifun’s Solana Agent Kit.
Personally, I'm using slate ceo—they’re still very early and haven’t launched a token yet—but I love their automation features. I mainly use it to set conditional trades, like selling 25% of my position if xxxx reaches a $5M market cap, or buying $5,000 worth of tokens if xxx hits a certain price.
AIWayfinder is another interesting project worth watching. Built by the PRIME / ParallelTCG team, it's a major player to keep an eye on.
2. Autonomous Trading Agents
Why spend hours hunting for alpha, manually executing trades, and trying to optimize your portfolio when you can have an agent do it for you? Autonomous trading agents take trading bots to a new level, transforming them into dynamic partners that adapt, learn, and make smarter decisions over time.
To clarify, trading bots aren't new. They’ve existed for years, executing predefined actions based on static programming. But agents are fundamentally different:
They extract information from unstructured and constantly changing environments.
They reason about data within the context of their goals.
They identify patterns and learn to exploit them over time.
They can execute actions their owners haven’t explicitly programmed.
This subfield is rapidly evolving. Initially, agents might serve entertainment purposes—like hyping low-quality memecoins for fun—but they’re now shifting toward practical, profit-driven tools that help users trade more effectively. However, one critical challenge remains: How do you verify whether an "agent" is actually autonomous, rather than just a bot—or even a human operating behind the scenes?
This is where DeAI infrastructure plays a crucial role.
The Role of DeAI in Verifying Agents
Key infrastructures like Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) ensure agents operate securely and tamper-proof.
For example:
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TEE: Promoted by PhalaNetwork, TEE provides secure isolated zones where data can be processed confidentially. Phala’s experiments—such as Unruggable ICO and Sporedotfun—demonstrate how agents can perform tasks while preserving data integrity.
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Transparent Execution / Verification Frameworks: Innovations like zkML (zero-knowledge machine learning) or opML provide verifiability for inference and computation. Hyperbolic Labs’ Proof-of-Sampling (PoSP) is a standout example. This mechanism combines game theory and sampling techniques to ensure computations are both accurate and efficient in decentralized environments.
Why This Matters
When autonomous agents start managing significant TVL—say, $100 million or more—users will demand assurances. They’ll want to understand how agents manage risk, validate the frameworks they operate on, and ensure their funds aren’t being randomly dumped into obscure memecoins.
This space is still in its infancy, but we’re already seeing promising projects exploring these verifiability tools. As DeFAI evolves, this is a direction worth watching closely.
To learn more about DeAI infrastructure trends, check out this article:
Top Autonomous Trading Agents I’m Watching
Almanak
Almanak offers institutional-grade quantitative AI agents to users, addressing complexity, fragmentation, and execution challenges in DeFi. The platform runs Monte Carlo simulations on forked EVM chains, accounting for unique complexities such as MEV, gas fees, and transaction ordering in real environments.
It uses TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) to ensure privacy during strategy execution, protecting alpha, and enables non-custodial fund handling via Almanak Wallets, allowing precise permission delegation to agents.
Almanak’s infrastructure supports the ideation, creation, evaluation, optimization, deployment, and monitoring of financial strategies. The ultimate goal is for these agents to learn and adapt over time.
Almanak raised $1 million on legiondotcc with oversubscribed demand. Next steps include launching a beta version and deploying initial strategies/agents for beta testers. It will be fascinating to observe how these quant agents perform.
Cod3xOrg / BigTonyXBT
Cod3x, created by the Byte Mason team (known for their work on Fantom and SonicLabs), is a DeFAI ecosystem designed to simplify the creation of trading agents. The platform offers a no-code builder that allows users to create agents by defining trading strategies, personalities, and even tweet styles.
Users can access any dataset, develop financial strategies within minutes, and leverage rich APIs and strategy libraries. Cod3x integrates with AlloraNetwork, utilizing its advanced ML price prediction models to enhance trading strategies.
Big Tony is the flagship agent built on Allora’s model, entering and exiting major cryptocurrencies based on its predictions. Cod3x aims to build a thriving ecosystem of autonomous trading agents.
A notable feature of Cod3x is its liquidity strategy. Unlike the common alt:alt LP structure popularized by virtuals io, Cod3x uses a stablecoin:alt LP backed by cdxUSD—a CDP (Collateralized Debt Position) native to Cod3x. This structure offers greater stability and confidence for liquidity providers compared to volatile alt:alt pairs.
Cod3x also features its own DeFi primitives such as liquidity AMO (Automated Market Operations) and mini-pools, enhancing liquidity and adding more functional DeFi Lego components for agents within its ecosystem.
Other Notable Projects
getaxal / Gekko Agent—Axal’s self-driving product, where agents handle complex multi-step crypto strategies. Gekko integrates autonomous driving capabilities. I’m eager to see how Gekko executes data-driven trades in autonomous mode.
ASYM41b07—often called the “cheat code for memecoin trading,” ASYM analyzes vast amounts of data from blockchains and social media to predict memecoin trends. ASYM has consistently outperformed the market, showing 3–4x returns in backtests. It will be intriguing to see how it performs in live trading.
ProjectPlutus—I just love the name PPCOI.
3. AI-Powered Decentralized Applications (dApps)
AI-powered dApps represent a promising yet nascent frontier within DeFAI. These are fully decentralized applications that integrate AI or AI agents to enhance functionality, automation, and user experience. While still in early stages, certain ecosystems and projects are beginning to stand out.
In this domain, modenetwork is a particularly active ecosystem—a Layer 2 network built to attract top-tier AI x DeFi developers. Mode hosts multiple teams developing cutting-edge AI-powered applications:
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ARMA: Autonomous stablecoin yield farming tailored to user preferences, developed by gizatechxyz.
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Modius: Self-operating agents powered by autonolas, conducting Balancer LP mining.
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Amplifi Lending Agents: Developed by Amplifi Fi, these agents integrate with IroncladFinance to automatically swap assets, borrow on Ironclad, and maximize yields through automatic rebalancing.
The core of this ecosystem is MODE, the native token. Holders can stake MODE to receive veMODE, granting benefits such as AI agent airdrops, whitelist access to projects, and other ecosystem perks. Mode is positioning itself as the epicenter of AI x DeFi innovation, with expectations of significant growth in influence by 2025.
Additionally, danielesesta has drawn widespread attention with his DeFAI thesis via HeyAnonai. He announced that HeyAnon is developing:
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An abstraction layer serving as a DeFi interface
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DeFi agents for autonomous trading execution
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Research and communication agents for gathering, filtering, and interpreting relevant data
The market responded strongly, with the ANON token’s market cap surging from $10 million to $130 million. Daniele seems to be bringing back the excitement of TIME Wonderland—but this time with stronger fundamentals and a clearer vision.
Beyond these two ecosystems, numerous teams are building their own AI-powered decentralized applications. Once dominant ecosystems begin to form around them, I’ll share more insights in the future.
Final Thoughts
DeFAI is transforming DeFi by making it smarter, simpler, and more accessible. As abstraction layers streamline user interactions, autonomous trading agents manage portfolios, and AI-powered dApps optimize use cases, we are standing at the dawn of a new era.
Rather than calling it DeFi Summer 2020, 2025 may well be remembered as DeFAI Summer.
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