AI agent concept coins are rising rapidly. Is this a real trend or a bubble?

Even though the crypto market is fluctuating, the funds for AI proxy concept coins are very active.

On January 2, VIRTUAL rose by more than 18% in 24 hours and is now quoted at $4.72. Its market value has risen to $4.72 billion, setting a record high.

ZEREBRO rose by more than 16% in 24 hours and is now quoted at $0.72. Its market value rose to more than $700 million, setting a record high.

AI16Z rose by more than 31% and is now quoted at $2.37. Its market value once exceeded $2.5 billion, setting a record high.

COOKIE rose by 119% and is now quoted at $0.52, with a current market value of $72 million. Even GOAT, which is about to be forgotten by the market, has risen by more than 19% and is now quoted at $0.6, while ACT has risen by 18% and is quoted at $0.33.

What happened behind the AI ​​agent concept?

OpenAI will release the AI ​​agent tool "Operator" this month

As early as November last year, OpenAI planned to release an AI agent tool code-named "Operator" in January 2025. The tool can automatically perform tasks on the user's computer, such as writing code or booking a trip. People familiar with the matter revealed that the tool will be launched as a research preview and will be open to developers through an API.

In addition, OpenAI even boldly predicted in October of that year that AI agents will "become mainstream" next year. Kevin Weil, chief product officer of OpenAI, said, "These more agent-like systems will become possible, which is why I think 2025 will be the year when agent systems finally enter the mainstream."

As an important brand in the AI ​​industry, any major updates and progress of its products will attract market attention and become an ambush target for hype funds. As a result, it is not surprising that some hot and high-quality project tokens are sought after by the market.

What exactly is an AI agent? What are the possibilities of combining with Crypto?

In short, an AI agent is an efficient and intelligent tool that can automatically handle various tasks, such as email management, travel schedules, and even assisted programming. This allows people to focus more on other important matters at work.

If you are still confused about this, imagine that when you need to buy fruit, you often open the mobile phone APP, then search, fill in the address, confirm the order, and finally pay.

In the era of AI agents, now you only need to tell the AI ​​agent to make a call for me to buy $30 worth of mangoes and have them delivered to my home. The AI ​​agent will directly call the merchant and explain the specific needs, and the user only needs to wait for the goods to be delivered.

In the era of AI for everything, what kind of chemical reaction will occur when the cryptocurrency field is combined with AI? At present, this exploration has also become a market trend. Putting aside the past WLD, which mainly featured the OpenAI Ultraman concept, and AI data analysis Arkham, etc., the concept of on-chain AI agent has become the latest trend.

From the beginning, AI+MEME representatives such as GOAT, and then evolved into application exploration tracks, such as Twitter reply comments, and even currency price analysis, such as AIXBT, and also included AI content generation on music, such as Zerebro.

The third type is Virtual and Clanker, which use Launchpad as a function to create a wealth effect. If such platforms can produce high-quality projects with good returns, they will often form a good leading effect. Virtual's continuous record highs are an example.

More possibilities include the combination of AI agents and DeFi, such as automated investment, intelligent early warning, and increased yields. USV co-founder Fred Wilson even predicted that in 2025, the chief artificial intelligence robot of his fund would lose control, obtain USV's crypto wallet permissions, and start seed investments, one of which eventually paid off handsomely.

However, for now, AI agents in the cryptocurrency field are still dominated by hype, and their actual specific applications remain to be observed and explored.

What do big names and institutions think?

The AI ​​craze has also made many institutions and investors optimistic about its future development. Binance Labs predicts that underperforming industries such as games, ZK technology, and privacy solutions may make a comeback in 2025 as they transition from development to production, supporting new use cases. In addition, existing narratives such as DeSci, RWA/stablecoins, and AI agents should continue to perform well with strong momentum.

Bitwise Research Director Ryan Rasmussen predicts that tokens launched by AI agents will lead a bigger meme coin craze than in 2024.

Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick and CoinFund Managing Director David Pakman pointed out that the greatest value of AI to the crypto field is to improve development efficiency, because software development is still the core of the crypto field. However, Pakman is relatively optimistic about the future of AI agents and believes that cryptocurrency can provide an ideal payment infrastructure for AI agents.