Segment from the 0xResearch Newsletter

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

The AI agent frenzy was kickstarted by GOAT, a Solana memecoin created by Andy Ayrey, who instigated an endless debate between two Claude AI models. Today, GOAT maintains a market cap of $404 million but has lost some of its previous prominence.

First to replicate GOAT’s success was the AI agent Luna (LUNA), represented as a busty anime girl chatbot that streams 24/7 on social media. Users can chat with her, tip her with LUNA tokens, or use her for social media marketing—endorsed by A16z-backed Story Protocol.

Luna was launched on Virtuals Protocol, recognized as an “AI Agent launchpad” on Base. This protocol evolved from the PathDAO gaming guild, adapting pump.fun’s successful strategy to focus on AI agents. They launch agent tokens, aim for a market cap on a bonding curve, and pool these in liquidity pairs on Uniswap.

What sets Virtuals apart is the connection of its native VIRTUALS token to the cost of launching agents and conducting inferences, coupled with agent tokens in a liquidity pair (instead of SOL).

Within the Virtuals ecosystem, Luna competes for speculative investment with other chatbots like Airene and utility-based agents such as aixbt, which aggregates social media data for trading insights.

Competition thrives not only among agents but also among the picks-and-shovels of this sector. Numerous AI agent launchpads like vvaifu.fun, Creator.Bid, MyShell.ai, and Zentients have emerged.

Additionally, there are AI agent “frameworks,” code libraries that assist developers in customizing their agents. Notable frameworks include ai16z’s Eliza, Virtual’s G.A.M.E (Generative Autonomous Multimodal Entities), ZerePy, and RIG, each with its own tokens attracting speculative interest.

Lastly, AI investment DAOs offer a simple proposition: deposit SOL/ETH and receive a DAO token to share in the “hedge fund’s” profits. Ai16z was the first investment DAO on Solana, now managing $23.4 million. Its AI16Z token is valued at a staggering $1.4 billion market cap. Upcoming platforms like Daos.world and VaderAI have gained traction, raising approximately one million in capital across six funds recently.