Whale loses $20.4M on six AI agent tokens

A Whale lost $20.4 million in a catastrophic bet on AI agent tokens, watching a $23 million investment evaporate to just  $2.58 million. The 88.77% wipeout shows the speculative bubble driving the AI cryptocurrency market, with individual token reductions of up to 99%.

On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain flagged the trades as some of the worst recent investments in the Base AI token. The Whale spread capital across several trending AI-related tokens. However, Lookonchain statistics revealed that the exit proved harsh, as liquidity dried up. Size did not offer protection. It only magnified the damage.

Whale loses $20.4M on six AI agent tokens

This might be one of the worst investments ever.

A whale/institution spent $23M buying AI agent tokens on #Base and sold everything today for only $2.58M, resulting in a $20.43M(−88.77%) loss.

Breakdown:$FAI: −$9.87M(−92.31%)$AIXBT: −$7.81M(−83.74%)$BOTTO:… pic.twitter.com/DbEqIyD6xT

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 16, 2025

Lookonchain monitored the Whale’s holdings across six AI agent tokens. On-chain data revealed that FAI suffered the biggest loss, dropping 92.31% to $9.87 million. AIXBT lost $7.81 million, which is 83.74% less than the purchase price.

The decline in the remaining positions was just as sharp. BOTTO dropped by 83.62%, or $936,000. POLY fell 98.63%, erasing $839,000.

NFTXBT experienced the largest percentage decline in the market, with a 99.13% decline and a loss of $594,000. MAICRO lost $381,000 at the conclusion, which is an 89.55% decrease.

On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence revealed that the Whale’s wallet address currently holds just $3,635.51, down 8.78% in assorted assets. The assets include ETH and small holdings in BYTE, MONK, and SANTA. Factually, the dramatic exit marks a Near-total loss of AI agent tokens.

The Whale’s exit comes amid the waning enthusiasm for AI tokens in early 2025, when the sector saw a decline of 77%. The AI agents’ crypto sector is still suffering losses, with its overall market capitalization falling below $5 billion amid a wider drop.

According to the latest data, the market capitalization of AI Agents is at $3.41 billion, up 1.9% over the previous day.

On-chain data revealed that nearly all AI tokens have been impacted by the decrease, with the majority following a similar path in the cryptocurrency market.

AI Agents fall from $16 billion market capitalization

Not long ago, fully autonomous AI agents were lauded as the future. According to Kore.ai, the AI agents promised to handle complex, multi-step tasks without human intervention. In reality, however, the narrative took a different turn. Companies experimenting with “runaway agents” by late 2025 found that independence came at a high price, such as a lack of oversight, inefficiency, and unpredictability.

AI agent tokens demonstrated intense market interest. On-chain data revealed that at one point, AI agents had a total market cap of about $16 billion. However, the focus on AI agents was fleeting. Token prices fell more than 90% from their high, while the majority of projects fell short of development projections.

Earlier this year, Guy Turner, the co-founder of Coin Bureau, argued that it is still too early to discount the promise of AI agents, despite the industry’s precipitous drop raising questions about its long-term viability.

Turner believed that as AI technology develops, there may be a resurgence of interest in and acceptance of AI agents. He identified institutional investment, regulatory clarity, and retail participation as important growth drivers.

Turner claimed that the AI sector might become legitimate with the help of governments, IT companies, and financial institutions, transforming it from a speculative industry to a significant player in the market.

“AI agents are clearly a disruptive force, and we don’t yet know exactly how much value they can provide but you can bet your bottom dollar that tech companies everywhere are going to do whatever it takes to find out.”

Guy Turner, co-founder of Coin Bureau.

Turner also mentioned the potential for a meme coin comeback to serve as a temporary stimulus. He believed that the idea that AI Agent tokens are just “meme coins with a chatbot attached” is an oversimplification of their actual potential.

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