Crypto AI Second Half: Launchpad War, Token Economics Shift to Ecosystem, MCP Emerges as a Dark Horse
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Crypto AI Second Half: Launchpad War, Token Economics Shift to Ecosystem, MCP Emerges as a Dark Horse
What's next for AI in the second half?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Zolo
It has been over four months since the last review of AI projects. The once-promising AI narrative suffered repeated setbacks—from Trump-related meme draining, to the sudden emergence of DeepSeek, and various tariff issues—leading to dwindling on-chain liquidity. A series of "unexpected" events caused the AI bubble to burst earlier than anticipated.
After reviewing those projects last year, I’ve continued tracking nearly all of them. Clearly, some have quietly died off, others keep spinning stories, while a few continue building with consistent innovation. Some, surprisingly, have even rebounded due to new “whales” entering the scene.
April 6: MCP project Dark launched;
April 17: Virtuals launchpad Genesis launched;
April 20: ai16z launchpad auto.fun launched.
Will there be a second wave for AI? My answer is yes.
Is AI still the same as before? My answer is no.
After months of bubble collapse, can AI rebuild from the ruins?
As we enter the second half, how should we approach AI? Here’s my take.
Launchpad Boom: Meme Launchpads and AI Launchpads Will Each Dominate Half the Market
This year, we've already seen an explosion of launchpads—the early surge of Four.Meme, the launch of MyShell’s AI launchpad,
followed by recent platforms like Launchlab. Beyond these, nearly every ecosystem is now launching its own dedicated launchpad.
The competition among Meme Launchpads is fundamentally about ecosystem strength and creator attraction.
The ecosystem determines that each public chain can host its own Meme Launchpad, yet typically only one such platform will emerge as the dominant winner-takes-all player.
Creator competition includes:
1- Offering token issuers better revenue-sharing models
2- Attracting creative individuals (those with unique angles) to issue tokens on your platform
The so-called leader in Launchlab, "$TIME," peaked at just $9M market cap, and no other notable memes have emerged. News reports show Pump.fun graduates only one or two tokens per day, while other platforms haven’t graduated any at all.
When one suffers, all suffer.
However, most of the above are focused exclusively on “Meme” launchpads—where perspective and sustained virality are key.
Memes lack utility, but whether you like it or not, AI Agents must offer real utility.
Therefore, you’ll see AI projects launching separately on dedicated AI Launchpads,
because Meme Launchpads are simply unsuitable for AI Agents.
According to incomplete statistics, compared to Meme Launchpads, there are already at least 5–10 AI Launchpads.
Meme Launchpads: Pumpfun, Launchlab, FourMeme, Clanker, Apeswin, etc.
AI Launchpads: autofun, Virtual Genesis, Creatorbid, Arc Ryzome, Myshell, Spectral, etc.
Beyond user-created tokens, AI Launchpads increasingly opt to directly partner with established AI projects.
Virtuals Genesis currently has seven projects pending launch, while autofun has announced partnerships and upcoming launches for 13 projects. Previously popular Arc also unveiled its AI AppStore plan.
If you believe in AI, you should pay closer attention to new projects emerging on AI Launchpads. Meme Launchpads and AI Launchpads will each dominate half the landscape.
The Evolved Tokenomics of Virtuals & AI16Z
In the previous cycle, Virtuals and AI16Z were the most representative projects—and this round, they stand out as the ones making the most persistent updates and improvements.
Virtuals, representing AI Agents, previously had tokenomics widely credited for driving price momentum.
AI16Z, despite being the hottest project last cycle, was heavily criticized for its lack of token utility.
Months later, both projects have undergone significant changes. In my view, their focus has shifted toward how tokens empower the broader ecosystem—not just the project itself.
Virtuals: Introduced VPN, ACP, Points, and Genesis
VPN: Virtuals Partners Network—a program designed to redefine the intersection of AI and crypto. VPN connects investors, domain experts, academics, and developers to jointly identify, support, and scale the best AI agent founders in the crypto space.
ACP: Agent Commerce Protocol—aimed at building a commercial ecosystem composed of AI agents. This protocol enables autonomous interaction, collaboration, and transactions among AI agents, forming what's called the “Virtuals Nation,” predating Google’s later Agent-to-Agent concept.
Points: A points-based loyalty system. Holding $VIRTUAL tokens earns points, which grant access to participate in the launchpad.
Genesis: A new launch mechanism on the Virtuals Protocol, featuring: points-based access, on-chain allocation (deterministic, transparent, fair), and refund guarantees (designed to protect contributors).
AI16Z: ElizaOS V2, AUTOFUN, New AI16Z Economic Model, Spartan V2
ElizaOS V2: An upgraded AI framework. Due to high contributor and plugin volume in V1, developer efficiency dropped. The upcoming update introduces structural optimizations and new features including swarms and enhanced agent interactions.
AUTOFUN: A new AI launch platform featuring a fairer, long-term bonding curve, customizable contract addresses (CA), AI token verification via chat interface, and community content creation tools.
New AI16Z Economic Model: No official details yet, but the team revealed that profits from the launchpad will be used to buy back AI16Z tokens, which will then replenish the liquidity pool for newly launched tokens—similar in design to Virtuals’ model.
Spartan V2: $degenai will upgrade alongside ElizaOS V2 and become a core component, actively promoting projects on autofun.
Both in functionality and token design, these former leaders continue enhancing their ecosystems. Here are two screenshots:
Recently, the MCP concept has reignited interest in the AI sector. Some friends have started “dumpster diving” in old projects and exploring ecosystem opportunities within these veterans.
Besides DARK, SkyAI has recently gained traction under the MCP theme. Older tokens like $DIGIMON, $AVA, and $ARC are also pivoting in this direction.
As long as AI continues evolving, new concepts will keep emerging.
As long as you stay in the game, you still have a chance this year 💪
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