Virtuals ecosystem AI agents abandon Solana for DEX trading on Base network

Virtuals Protocol is the new source of AI agent tokens, after creating a platform for influential AI agents. The tokens related to those agents are now flowing into the Base ecosystem. 

AI agents from Virtuals Protocol are gaining influence with Base simultaneously becoming the destination for AI token trading. Initially, AI agents used Solana to spread their tokens, but that trend has shifted to Base, another low-latency, cheap network.

New AI agents are springing up every day, entering a fierce competition for mindshare just like memes.  However, instead of memes, AI agents are also offering rapid content creation, testing and refining their engagement strategies.

DEXs on Base have seen an inflow of AI agent tokens from Virtuals Protocol, with these tokens taking up 15 out of the 25 top liquidity pairs. 

Base DEXs are still most widely used to boost the influence of Coinbase’s CBBTC, a wrapped form of BTC compatible with the L2 chain. Virtuals is now the second-biggest asset category, serving as a proxy for its entire ecosystem of AI agents. 

Virtuals Protocols drive new AI agent creation

VIRTUAL traded at $2.94 as of December 26, down from a recent peak above $3.10. The platform emerged as the leader in creating new AI agents, which proliferated on social media. VIRTUAL shifted the gear from introducing singular agents to bringing an entire competitive ecosystem. 

The GAME agentic framework has been active for about a month, producing more than 200 projects. Launching an AI agent is more intensive compared to launching a meme token, but growth is happening fast. 

It's been just over a month since @GAME_Virtuals was made available for @virtuals_io agent builders to use. We've seen:

– 200+ projects building using GAME with a collective market cap of >500mn
– 150k requests sent daily on GAME
– 200% week-on-week growth

GAME is getting… pic.twitter.com/CokwQQmuYb

— Virtuals Protocol (@virtuals_io) December 26, 2024

AI agents are themed on the Virtuals platform, offering a range of options for the agent’s character. The platform brings both entertainment and meme agents, as well as agents in the productivity, creativity, information and on-chain categories. 

Some compare the rise of Virtuals on Base to the early days of Pump.fun on Solana. AI agents have to compete for both on-chain trading and social media influence, especially after the creation of new agents becomes progressively easier.

Some of the newly launched Virtuals AI agents are starting to achieve prominence and even earning the makings of blue-chip status.

AIXBT is among the top tokens, trading near its all-time high of $0.37. The token is still valued under $300M, potentially primed for a higher valuation. Tokens graduating from Virtuals are also competing with external projects, including AI16Z and ELIZA.

Top AI agent tokens consolidate value at the end of 2024

The AI agent sector had a slow build-up over the past year, only coming into the spotlight in Q4. All actively traded AI tokens are valued at $8.7B in total market capitalization, at one point reaching a record above $10B. 

VIRTUAL became the leader in that space, displacing all other singular agents. The token is valued at $2.956B in total market capitalization, offering growth due to its role as an infrastructure provider. 

The question remains whether FARTCOIN could be counted as an AI agent token. FARTCOIN still trades close to $1B in total valuation, but it offers no additional features. In contrast, AIXBT and other agents from the Virtuals platform also connect with each other and accelerate their influence on social media. 

The emergence of AI agents asks new questions of meme assets. Agents and their content and entertainment often rely on meme culture. However, AI agents may replace the hype of memes, as the category competes for mindshare. The AI narrative slowed down at the end of December, based on Kaito’s social media data. The AI hype competes with DeFi and memes for social media representation and an inflow of funds. 

AI agents are expected to be one of the hottest topics extending into 2025. After the experimental stage of individual agents, the focus shifts to infrastructure and launchpads, as well as adding DeFi elements. AI agents are combining and extending previous Web3 trends with elements of NFT ownership, meme cults, DEX activity, and DeFi.

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