AI Agents in Cryptocurrency: Current Projects Across Ecosystems

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are autonomous programs capable of perceiving their environment, making decisions, and performing tasks without continuous human guidance. In the cryptocurrency space, AI agents have become a major trend, with projects integrating these autonomous AI systems at both the infrastructure (blockchain/protocol) level and the application (dApp/service) level. Across all major blockchain ecosystems – from Ethereum and Cosmos to Solana, Polkadot, and BNB Chain – developers are exploring AI agents to enhance decentralized applications, automation, and user experiences. For example, on BNB Chain a wave of AI agent projects (e.g. MyShell, Cookie DAO, ChainGPT) has attracted significant investment and user interest, with several exceeding $100 million in market value. Meanwhile, established Ethereum-based AI platforms like SingularityNET and Fetch.ai have even merged into a unified alliance to scale up their AI agent ecosystems. In the Polkadot/Cosmos realm, projects like Bittensor are pioneering decentralized AI networks to challenge big tech’s dominanc. In summary, crypto projects involving AI agents now span decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, data markets, and core blockchain infrastructure, underscoring the growing convergence of AI and blockchain.

Below, we delve into a selection of current and popular crypto projects with AI agents, covering both infrastructure-level platforms and application-level implementations. Each project listing includes its ecosystem, a brief description, how it integrates AI agents, whether it serves as infrastructure or an application, token details, and any notable partnerships or adoption metrics.

Infrastructure-Level AI Agent Projects

Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (ASI Alliance)

Ecosystem: Multi-chain (primarily Ethereum; integrations with Cardano and Cosmos)
Type: Infrastructure (decentralized AI network and marketplace)
Description: The ASI Alliance is a merger of three leading AI blockchain projects – Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Protocol – forming the largest open-source decentralized AI network. This alliance aims to accelerate development of decentralized AI (including Artificial General Intelligence) by combining the three projects’ technologies and communities. It serves as an open platform where anyone can develop, share, and monetize AI services.
AI Integration: ASI provides a multi-agent framework in which specialized AI agents can coordinate to perform complex tasks collectively, like a digital workforce. SingularityNET’s marketplace of AI services and Fetch.ai’s autonomous economic agents are unified under one network, enabling agents to interact, exchange data, and transact with each other using the common ASI protocol. This integration challenges Big Tech’s siloed AI systems by decentralizing AI development and access.
Token: ASI (Artificial Superintelligence Alliance token). Launched in mid-2024 as a unified token replacing AGIX (SingularityNET), FET (Fetch.ai), and OCEAN (Ocean Protocol). The merger was completed on June 13, 2024, with Fetch’s FET token renamed to ASI and swaps offered for AGIX and OCEAN holders. ASI is used for governance and transactions across the combined platform, effectively aligning incentives of all three communities. (Note: Prior to merger, AGIX, FET, and OCEAN were separate tokens.)
Partnerships/Adoption: This alliance itself is a partnership of three major AI-blockchain communities, led by notable AI and crypto figures (Humayun Sheikh of Fetch.ai, Dr. Ben Goertzel of SingularityNET, Trent McConaghy of Ocean). The scale is significant – the combined market capitalization of the alliance was reported in the billions of USD – reflecting the large user base and developer community now unified. The alliance has also begun integrating additional collaborators; for instance, the cloud compute project CUDOS was accepted into the alliance via community vote, extending ASI’s infrastructure. By merging resources and networks, the ASI Alliance is positioned as a decentralized alternative to big tech AI platforms, and it has quickly become a cornerstone infrastructure for AI agents in crypto.

Bittensor (TAO)

Ecosystem: Substrate (independent Polkadot-based network; includes a Polkadot parachain called Subtensor)
Type: Infrastructure (decentralized machine learning network)
Description: Bittensor is a decentralized AI network that incentivizes the creation and sharing of machine learning models in a blockchain environment. It forms an open marketplace or “hive mind” of AI models, where participants (nodes) called miners train and serve AI models, validators evaluate their performance, and the system rewards useful models with cryptocurrency. The goal is to crowdsource AI development akin to Bitcoin’s crowdsourced security – providing a global, permissionless platform for AI innovation beyond the control of any single company.
AI Integration: At Bittensor’s core, autonomous AI agents (nodes) learn from each other by exchanging information and tasks. The network is structured into subnets, each focusing on certain AI tasks (from basic infrastructure to data sourcing and model training). Bittensor introduced an innovative consensus (Yuma consensus) that allows the network to evaluate contributions of each AI model and distribute rewards accordingly. This creates an economy where AI agents compete and cooperate to improve their models, driving a “digital hive mind” that grows in capability as more participants join. In July 2024, for example, Bittensor collaborated with AI hardware company Cerebras to release a high-performance open-source language model (BTLM-3B-8K), showcasing the network’s ability to train and share advanced AI models (the model was downloaded over 16,000 times on HuggingFace).
Token: TAO – the native utility token of Bittensor. TAO is continuously issued (with one new TAO every 12 seconds, halving every 4 years, similar to Bitcoin’s emission schedule) to reward contributors. TAO is required to access network services and is staked by participants; it essentially serves as “fuel” for the AI network and a credential proving a node’s stake and contribution. Recent upgrades like dTAO (Dynamic TAO) in Feb 2025 adjusted the token economics to improve fairness and liquidity.
Partnerships/Adoption: Bittensor is widely regarded as a leading decentralized AI project, often cited as one of the most developed networks in the space. Its partnership with Cerebras (a major AI hardware firm) to release an open LLM demonstrates industry recognition and technical prowess. The network has seen rapid growth in participation: the number of Bittensor wallet accounts doubled from ~100,000 at the start of 2024 to nearly 200,000 accounts by early 2025. There are also over 60 active subnets tackling various AI challenges, some even outperforming centralized AI services in niche tasks. This growth, along with a vibrant developer community, underscores substantial adoption. Bittensor’s approach has even been highlighted in mainstream outlets as a novel way to democratize AI development, directly incentivizing AI researchers and developers with crypto rewards to build an open AI ecosystem.

Oraichain (ORAI)

Ecosystem: Cosmos (app-specific Layer-1 blockchain with IBC connectivity)
Type: Infrastructure (AI oracle network and layer-1 for AI dApps)
Description: Oraichain is the world’s first AI-powered oracle blockchain, designed to connect smart contracts with real-world AI algorithms and data. Launched in 2020, Oraichain’s mission is to bridge AI and blockchain by providing a platform where AI APIs and models can be requested on-chain by decentralized applications. In addition to oracle services, Oraichain has evolved into a full AI-centric layer-1 blockchain supporting AI-powered dApps, data marketplaces, and an ecosystem of AI services. It provides a Cosmos SDK-based chain optimized for running AI computations and verifying AI results in a trustless way.
AI Integration: Oraichain’s core service is an AI Oracle – smart contracts can call the Oraichain oracle to execute AI algorithms (such as a machine learning model inference or data processing task) and get verifiable results on-chain. This allows dApps to leverage off-chain AI computation (like image recognition, NLP, or complex analytics) within blockchain logic. Oraichain ensures the reliability of these AI calls through “Proof-of-Execution” and “Proof-of-Trust” mechanisms that validate the AI output. The platform also includes an AI API marketplace where developers can publish AI models and APIs that others can consume via oracles, with usage tracked on-chain. Recently, Oraichain Labs introduced Agents.land, a no-code AI agent launchpad powered by Oraichain’s tech, which enables creating and deploying AI agents on Solana while using Oraichain’s confidential computing and AI infrastructure as the backbone. This cross-chain approach showcases Oraichain’s flexibility in powering AI agents that can interact with both Web2 and Web3 services securely.
Token: ORAI – the native token of Oraichain. ORAI is used for paying oracle fees, staking, and governance in the network. Smart contracts that request AI services pay ORAI to validators/executors that run the AI scripts. The token also secures the network via a Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus (validators stake ORAI) and is used to vote on governance proposals. Additionally, some of Oraichain’s newer products use ORAI for value capture (for example, AI Marketplace fees and a portion of agent platform fees are used to buy back and burn ORAI, aligning long-term token value with platform usage).
Partnerships/Adoption: Oraichain has formed notable partnerships to expand its AI ecosystem. It partnered with Ocean Protocol to integrate Ocean’s datasets and data marketplace with Oraichain’s AI services, combining data availability with on-chain AI processing. The project has also collaborated with enterprises and AI firms – for instance, a partnership with Rikkeisoft (a large software firm) to accelerate development of Oraichain’s services. Oraichain’s technology was showcased at Consensus 2024 to demonstrate use-cases of AI oracles in DeFi and NFTs. The introduction of Agents.land (in collaboration with Solana and AI company Distilled AI) indicates growing adoption of Oraichain’s infrastructure for cross-chain AI agent deployment. With these partnerships and a developer-friendly platform, Oraichain is becoming a key AI middleware in the Cosmos ecosystem and beyond, enabling various blockchain projects (DeFi, GameFi, NFTs) to incorporate AI capabilities.

Cortex (CTXC)

Ecosystem: Cortex Blockchain (independent Layer-1, EVM-compatible)
Type: Infrastructure (AI-powered smart contract platform)
Description: Cortex is a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for AI, aiming to bring machine learning models into smart contracts. Launched in 2018, it was the first public blockchain to enable on-chain AI inference, allowing complex algorithms to run during contract execution. Cortex features the Cortex Virtual Machine (CVM), an enhanced version of Ethereum’s EVM that supports running AI models (with GPU support for heavy computations). In essence, Cortex extends the smart contract paradigm beyond static logic by integrating AI decision-making directly into DApps.
AI Integration: Developers can upload machine-learning models onto the Cortex chain, and these models become available for smart contracts to call. When a contract needs to make a decision that requires AI (for example, classifying an image or making a prediction), it invokes the stored model, and the CVM executes the model inference on-chain. This integration enables smart contracts to perform real-time AI-driven decisions instead of just predefined rule execution. For instance, a DeFi contract could use an AI model to adjust trading strategies based on market data, or an NFT could have properties that evolve using an on-chain neural network’s output. Cortex also established a decentralized AI model marketplace, where AI developers can upload and monetize their models, and DApp developers can purchase access to those models for use in contracts. Key use cases highlighted include AI-powered DeFi trading bots, smart NFTs and gaming AI, and on-chain predictive analytics, all of which become possible through Cortex’s on-chain AI execution.
Token: CTXC – the native token of Cortex. CTXC is used to pay for transactions and computational fees, especially the additional GPU computing cost for AI inference. Running an AI model within a contract incurs a fee (similar to gas) paid in CTXC, which is rewarded to miners (Cortex uses a Proof-of-Work consensus) for providing the computational work. CTXC also plays a role in incentivizing AI model contributors – model developers can be rewarded in CTXC when their models are used, creating a tokenized AI economy.
Partnerships/Adoption: Cortex gained attention as a pioneer of on-chain AI and was listed on major exchanges (including Binance) early on, indicating community interest. It has been relatively quieter in recent years compared to newer AI projects, but it remains a foundational effort in the space. Cortex’s innovation – running AI in a trustless environment – has inspired research and other projects (its approach was cited by later AI-and-blockchain initiatives, and it partnered with academic teams for optimizing AI on blockchain). The Cortex Labs team actively maintains the ecosystem; for example, they have collaborated with AI chip manufacturers to improve on-chain inference efficiency. While Cortex may not boast large user numbers like some dApps, it has proven the feasibility of AI smart contracts. Its technology is being watched as AI adoption in Web3 grows, with the platform positioned to support sectors like finance, gaming, and even healthcare through intelligent contracts. In summary, Cortex established itself as a trailblazer at the infrastructure level, and any project seeking on-chain AI logic could leverage its chain or learn from its model.

Injective – Smart AI Agent Hub (INJ)

Ecosystem: Cosmos (Injective is a sovereign Cosmos Zone; also connects to Solana via interoperability)
Type: Infrastructure (Layer-1 protocol with AI agent framework)
Description: Injective is a Layer-1 blockchain optimized for finance (DEXs, derivatives) that is now expanding into supporting AI agents. In late 2024, Injective announced plans for the “Smart Agent Hub”, touted as the first cross-chain AI agents platform. This hub will provide tools and frameworks for developers to create, manage, and monetize AI agents that operate across multiple blockchains. Essentially, Injective is leveraging its interoperable design to become a home for AI agents in Cosmos and beyond, enabling agents to access assets and data cross-chain.
AI Integration: The Smart Agent Hub (expected testnet in Q1 2025) will allow AI agents to be deployed as on-chain entities that can perform actions like trading, data gathering, or interacting with dApps across networks. Injective is partnering with Sonic (the first Solana VM chain outside Solana) to incorporate Solana’s high-performance smart contract capabilities for AI agents. An AI agent built on Injective could, for example, execute a trading strategy on Injective’s exchange, use Solana’s ecosystem for NFT data, and bridge assets as needed – all autonomously. The Hub aims to give developers a unified experience with libraries and SDKs to integrate large language models or other AI logic into agent behaviors, while also handling cross-chain connectivity and asset transfers. By combining Injective’s interoperability (Injective is built with inter-chain IBC capabilities) with AI, the agents are not confined to one chain’s data or assets. This infrastructure effectively lowers the barrier to build AI-driven services in DeFi, gaming, or social platforms that span multiple chains.
Token: INJ – the native token of Injective. INJ is used for staking (Injective is Tendermint-based PoS), governance, and paying transaction fees on the Injective chain. With the introduction of the AI Agents Hub, INJ may also be used to stake or register AI agents or pay for agent-related operations. For instance, developers might pay in INJ to deploy their agent with certain resource limits, or agents might charge fees/rewards in INJ for tasks they perform on-chain. Details are still emerging, but likely the existing INJ economics (which include a fee-burning mechanism) will encompass the new agent activity.
Partnerships/Adoption: The Smart Agent Hub is a collaboration between Injective and Sonic (SVM), illustrating a cross-ecosystem partnership (Cosmos ↔ Solana) to advance AI agents. This move is part of a broader trend of Cosmos chains embracing AI – Injective’s initiative complements efforts like Oraichain’s, and shows a strategic push to attract AI developers. Injective already has a robust DeFi user base (with over 170M+ on-chain volume historically on its dApps), and adding AI agent functionality could draw in quantitatively driven traders and developers. The announcement indicates that after the Hub’s launch, the ecosystem will expand into gaming, entertainment, DeFi, and even social media (TikTok, Web3 games) as target verticals for AI agents. This suggests early plans for adoption – possibly partnering with applications in those domains to use AI agents for tasks like automated gameplay or content curation. As an established chain with institutional backing (e.g., Pantera, Jump), Injective’s foray into AI agents is closely watched. It could provide real-world usage stats quickly once launched, thanks to its existing community, thereby contributing valuable adoption metrics for AI agents in a cross-chain environment.

(Several other infrastructure-level projects are also exploring AI agent integration. For example, Phala Network in the Polkadot ecosystem is working with a16z’s Eliza framework to provide TEE-based secure enclaves for AI agents, and aelf (Layer-1) launched a no-code AI agent framework called Aevatar to let developers plug in large language models easily. These demonstrate the broad interest in supporting AI agents at the protocol level.)

Application-Level AI Agent Projects

Altered State Machine (ASTO)

Ecosystem: Ethereum (NFT-based platform; also operating on Immutable X and other NFT networks)
Type: Application (AI + NFT gaming/metaverse platform)
Description: Altered State Machine (ASM) is a decentralized platform to create, own, and trade AI agents as NFTs. It introduces the concept of “Non-Fungible Intelligence” – essentially an AI-trained model (an agent “brain”) that is tokenized as an NFT and can be paired with avatar NFTs. ASM enables anyone to obtain an AI agent, train it in various skills, and use it in games or virtual worlds. By giving AI models NFT form, ASM establishes ownership and portability of these agents across the metaverse.
How it Integrates AI Agents: In ASM, each AI Agent consists of a Brain NFT (which holds the AI model/skillset) and optionally a Form NFT (a visual avatar or character). Users can train their agents via a training protocol (using simulated environments or training games) and the learned “memories” (model parameters) are stored as part of the Brain NFT. These AI agents can autonomously perform in games – for example, ASM’s flagship game AIFA (Artificial Intelligence Football Association) is a 4v4 soccer game where each player is controlled by an AI agent “All-Star” and the human acts as team coach. Agents learn strategies and improve over time. The platform provides a Genome Mining feature where users stake ASTO tokens to generate new Gen 2 Brain NFTs, expanding the supply of AI agents. By tying AI models to NFTs, ASM allows agents to move between different games or metaverse applications, carrying their learned skills with them. This injects life into static NFTs – ASM agents can be thought of as NFT characters with evolving intelligence and personalities.
Token: ASTO – Altered State Machine’s utility and governance token. ASTO is used for “Brain mining” (staking ASTO to create new AI Brain NFTs), for accessing certain training programs or AI services, and for governing the direction of the ASM protocol. It’s essentially the currency of the ASM ecosystem that aligns incentives: players are rewarded in ASTO for participating in training or competitions, and they spend ASTO to improve or customize their AI agents. As ASM expands into more games and partnerships, ASTO will likely underpin those economies (e.g., powering an AI marketplace or paying for special training modules).
Partnerships/Adoption: Altered State Machine has garnered significant partnerships in both crypto and mainstream arenas. Notably, FIFA partnered with ASM to launch AI League, an AI-driven soccer game tied to the FIFA World Cup 2022. In AI League, players own teams of AI agents (trained in soccer gameplay) and compete in matches autonomously, which represents one of the first global sports bodies embracing AI agents in a game. Another partnership is with the Muhammad Ali estate for a boxing game called “The Next Legends,” where ASM’s AI brains power NFT boxers. ASM is part of the Futureverse consortium – a metaverse conglomerate – which has helped integrate ASM’s tech into various metaverse projects (e.g., Fluf World). Adoption-wise, ASM’s Genesis Brain NFTs and avatars sold out in their 2021 drop, and the community of ASM agent owners is active, with users training agents for competitions. The project’s success in the NFT gaming sector (thousands of agents in circulation) has made it a poster child for the concept of AI agents in the metaverse. With more than 8500 players participating in early AI sports betas and ongoing development of new games, ASM demonstrates tangible user-level adoption of AI agents. Its model of “AI-for-everyone” (letting non-technical users own and benefit from AI) is often cited as a pioneering approach in Web3 gaming.

Alethea AI / CharacterGPT (ALI)

Ecosystem: Ethereum and Polygon (AI protocol and dApps; also deployed on Base L2)
Type: Application (AI avatar platform and protocol)
Description: Alethea AI is a platform that enables the creation of intelligent, interactive avatars (AI characters) as NFTs, often referred to as “iNFTs”. Its flagship engine, CharacterGPT, is a multimodal generative AI system that can create realistic AI characters from text descriptions. These AI agents come with configurable personalities and can engage in conversations, generate content, and exhibit emotive expressions. The vision is a decentralized “The AI Protocol” where users can create, own, and monetize AI characters that serve as digital companions, customer service agents, virtual influencers, or NPCs in games.
How it Integrates AI Agents: Alethea’s AI agents are basically AI-powered avatars imbued with language models and animation capabilities. Users can go to dApps like iNFT Personality Pod or Aliens (formerly: Character Studio) to create a custom AI avatar by specifying traits, voice, and appearance. Under the hood, Alethea’s Emote Engine drives the facial expressions and lip-sync of these avatars to match the AI-generated dialogue, making the agents remarkably expressive and lifelike on-screen. The agents can be minted as NFTs (with their AI “brain” attached) so that the owner exclusively controls that character’s identity and can monetize its usage. For instance, an AI avatar could be leased to a brand to serve as a 24/7 virtual salesperson, or used by a content creator as a virtual streamer persona. In April 2024, Alethea launched its AI agents on Coinbase’s Base chain, offering a user-friendly app (aliagents.ai) for creators and businesses to spin up their own AI avatar agents. These agents are capable of multi-turn conversations, emotional responses, and even “remembering” context to a degree. They integrate generative AI (like GPT-4 for dialogue) with blockchain ownership. Essentially, Alethea provides the infrastructure for “intelligent NFTs” – combining generative AI APIs, a token-gated usage model, and NFT-based ownership for each agent.
Token: ALI (Artificial Liquid Intelligence token). ALI is the native token of Alethea’s AI Protocol. It is used for governance and utility within the Alethea ecosystem – for example, paying for the generation of new characters or buying “intelligence” upgrades for existing iNFTs. The Emote Engine and CharacterGPT APIs may require ALI tokens for access beyond free tiers. ALI stakers likely have a say in protocol governance (such as feature releases or treasury use). By integrating ALI, Alethea ensures a decentralized and community-driven development of its AI agent platform.
Partnerships/Adoption: Alethea AI has attracted prominent backers and partners. It was incubated by Binance (through Binance Labs) – Binance also launched the first “iNFT” named Alice on its marketplace in 2021, illustrating the concept of a NFT integrated with AI personality. The project has received funding from Multicoin Capital, Crypto.com Capital, and Polygon Studios, among others. Alethea partnered with Polygon to deploy CharacterGPT, making AI avatar minting efficient and low-cost. It also collaborated with Yield Guild Games (YGG) to help their community create AI companions for guild members. In terms of adoption, over 100K AI avatars have been generated using CharacterGPT as of 2023, and enterprise clients have experimented with Alethea’s tech for customer engagement bots. The recent deployment on Base (Coinbase’s chain) is bringing Alethea’s agents to a broader audience, and early demos showed these AI NFTs being used in virtual worlds and Zoom calls. The emphasis on emotional expressiveness and customization appeals to creators and businesses seeking interactive digital characters. As AI chatbots like ChatGPT exploded in popularity, Alethea positioned itself uniquely by adding an NFT ownership layer and visual embodiment to such chatbots. This has made it one of the most talked-about AI x NFT projects, bridging communities of AI enthusiasts, NFT collectors, and metaverse builders.

Numerai (NMR)

Ecosystem: Ethereum (ERC-20 token and off-chain platform)
Type: Application (Crowd-sourced AI hedge fund)
Description: Numerai is an AI-driven hedge fund that crowdsources stock market predictions from data scientists around the world. It’s a unique crypto project where the community’s AI models directly inform a real-world investment fund’s trades. Numerai regularly provides encrypted financial datasets to its community, who build predictive models (using machine learning) and submit their predictions. The performance of these models in predicting stock movements determines rewards. Numerai’s aim is to “build the last hedge fund” by uniting thousands of models into one meta-model that outperforms traditional funds, using crypto incentives to coordinate this effort.
How it Integrates AI Agents: In Numerai, each participating data scientist is effectively an AI agent developer – they create ML models (often ensembles of neural networks, decision trees, etc.) that serve as agents making market predictions. These models are not run on the blockchain; instead, participants upload predictions to Numerai’s servers for weekly stock market tournaments. However, blockchain plays a crucial role: participants must stake Numerai’s cryptocurrency (NMR) on their model’s performance. The staking mechanism means each model (agent) has “skin in the game” – if the model performs well, the creator earns NMR rewards; if it performs poorly, their staked NMR can be burned (destroyed). This creates a meritocratic system where good AI agents (models) get more capital and bad ones phase out. Numerai then takes the highest performing predictions to inform its hedge fund’s trading strategy (the hedge fund operates with external capital, not directly on-chain). In essence, the AI agents compete in a tournament, and Numerai combines the best of them into one “Meta AI” for trading. Numerai has also expanded with a product called Signals, where agents can submit signals based on their own datasets. All this is enabled by encryption (to keep data secret while models train) and the crypto staking incentive to align the crowd’s models with the fund’s success.
Token: Numeraire (NMR) – an ERC-20 token. NMR is the incentive and staking token at the heart of Numerai. The supply of NMR is capped (originally 21 million, reduced to 11 million max through burns). Data scientists stake NMR on their models; successful models earn additional NMR from a weekly reward pool, while unsuccessful ones lose their stake. This staking mechanism turns NMR into a sort of reputation and reward currency for AI modelers. Notably, Numerai distributed NMR for free to early top performers and has paid out over $14 million in NMR to data scientists to date. NMR has no traditional ICO – it was one of the first tokens simply released to an existing user base (modelers), ensuring broad distribution. Outside the tournament, NMR is used for governance of Numerai’s Erasure protocol (though Numerai is not fully decentralized yet, the token holders have a voice in some parameters).
Partnerships/Adoption: Numerai is often lauded for blending AI, crypto, and finance in a novel way. It was backed by Union Square Ventures and Paradigm, and has connections with the fintech and AI research community. The network of data scientists is over 5,500 strong as of early 2024, ranging from hobbyist coders to PhDs, all contributing models. This makes Numerai one of the largest global collaborations in finance. In terms of performance, Numerai’s hedge fund has been reported to outperform benchmarks – notably, Bloomberg reported a 20% fund return during a period when many funds struggled, highlighting the potential of Numerai’s AI meta-model. While exact AUM (assets under management) isn’t public, the fund’s success in down markets suggests the crowd-sourced AI approach is working. Numerai has also partnered with outlets like Kaggle in the past to attract talent and has inspired spinoffs (e.g., a DeFi protocol Erasure for predictions). It stands as a proof that a decentralized collective of AI agents (models) can run a competitive hedge fund. Adoption is measured in intellectual capital: thousands of models are submitted weekly, and about 600k NMR (worth tens of millions USD) is actively staked by data scientists in the tournament at any time. This alignment of AI expertise with blockchain incentives is a pioneering model for other predictive markets and funds.

ai16z (AI16Z)

Ecosystem: Solana (decentralized application; potential plans for its own L1)
Type: Application (On-chain AI-managed investment DAO)
Description: ai16z (a play on VC firm a16z’s name) is a decentralized, AI-powered trading fund and DAO that launched in late 2024. It positions itself as an autonomous crypto investment fund managed by AI agents, with community governance. By early 2025, ai16z had gained significant traction, reportedly reaching a $2.5 billion market cap. The project’s centerpiece is an AI agent nicknamed “AI Marc” – a virtual fund manager that runs trading strategies. Token holders of AI16Z form a DAO that oversees the AI and can adjust parameters, but day-to-day trading decisions are made by the AI in real-time.
How it Integrates AI Agents: At the heart of ai16z is AI Marc, an AI agent built on the Eliza framework (an open-source multi-agent framework introduced by a16z’s crypto research team). AI Marc continuously ingests live market data, news, and on-chain metrics, and uses machine learning models to predict market movements. It then autonomously executes trades on Solana’s decentralized exchanges according to its strategy. Essentially, AI Marc functions as a 24/7 algorithmic trader that can adapt to new information faster than any human. The AI16Z platform also features a “Virtual Marketplace of Trust” – a governance hub where token holders propose, debate, and vote on modifications to AI Marc’s strategy or on deploying new AI agents. For example, if the community observes the AI agent performing suboptimally in certain conditions, they can vote to tweak risk parameters or integrate an additional data feed. This is analogous to a hedge fund’s investment committee, but here it’s token-governed. ai16z plans to expand by launching an AI-focused launchpad (for other projects or AI agents) and even a new Layer-1 blockchain optimized for AI applications. This indicates that the single AI agent could grow into an ecosystem of multiple agents (traders, analysts, etc.) potentially on a dedicated chain.
Token: AI16Z – the governance and utility token of the ai16z platform. Holding AI16Z gives investors a stake in the fund’s performance and a vote in governance decisions. While details on token economics are limited, it likely has a mechanism to accrue value from the fund’s success (for example, via buy-and-burn of tokens using a portion of profitable trades, or paying out dividends to stakers). The token is also used to participate in the Virtual Marketplace of Trust governance process. The large market cap implies significant demand and liquidity for AI16Z, possibly because it offers exposure to an AI-run fund without needing to trust a human manager.
Partnerships/Adoption: ai16z’s swift rise can be attributed to timing and strong backers. The project’s name hints at inspiration (or indirect support) from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which indeed had released the Eliza agent framework that ai16z builds upon. There’s mention of a partnership with Ryze Labs, a firm that likely provides technical expertise or infrastructure for the trading strategies. Because it’s on Solana, ai16z benefits from Solana’s high throughput to execute frequent trades by the AI. Adoption-wise, by early 2025, AI Marc was managing a substantial portfolio given the large market cap and presumably large total value locked in the DAO. Thousands of users hold AI16Z tokens, effectively becoming stakeholders in this AI-managed fund. The concept of a fully automated on-chain fund attracted wide attention, and ai16z became a top traded token on Solana DEXes in late 2024. Its success has encouraged similar experiments in DeFi with AI-driven strategies. The project is still young, and performance will ultimately determine retention of users, but it stands out as one of the first live demonstrations of an autonomous AI agent handling real assets. If ai16z continues to outperform human-managed funds (or even just provides a unique uncorrelated strategy), it could mark a paradigm shift in decentralized asset management.

MyShell (SHELL)

Ecosystem: BNB Chain (BSC)
Type: Application/Platform (decentralized AI agent creation platform)
Description: MyShell is a decentralized AI consumer-layer platform that enables creators to build and deploy AI agents (bots) which users can interact with or utilize. It provides a suite of tools and services (such as OpenVoice for speech and MeloTTS for text-to-speech, and Alice AI assistant) to simplify creating AI-driven chatbots, virtual assistants, or other agents. Essentially, MyShell aims to be a one-stop platform for AI agent development on Web3, where creators can focus on the agent’s functionality while MyShell handles integrations with messaging apps, on-chain interactions, and monetization.
How it Integrates AI Agents: MyShell introduced its own ShellAgent architecture – a framework with protocols for building AI agents that can connect with multiple interfaces (IM messengers, on-chain calls, etc.). Through MyShell’s no-code or low-code interface, a creator can design an agent’s conversation flows or abilities (possibly plugging in large language models for open-ended chat, or custom models for specific tasks). These agents can then be offered to consumers who might use them for personal assistance, education, or entertainment. A key aspect is that MyShell’s agents can have on-chain intelligence – meaning they can trigger blockchain actions. For example, an agent could function as a DeFi portfolio assistant, automatically executing trades or yield farming based on user-set rules (with user approval), essentially bridging AI automation with smart contract execution. On February 16, 2024, MyShell rolled out major updates to this ShellAgent framework, including comprehensive integration with messaging platforms and on-chain capabilities. This made it easier for agents to be accessible via common interfaces (like Telegram, Discord) while also being able to read on-chain data or perform transactions. MyShell’s approach effectively modularizes AI agent creation, targeting a future where everyday people might have personal AI agents (think along the lines of AI assistants or NPC companions) that are partly powered by blockchain for security and monetization.
Token: SHELL – the native token of MyShell’s ecosystem. SHELL was launched via a token generation event on BNB Chain (through PancakeSwap’s offering), which saw huge interest (oversubscribed by over 100x). The token likely serves multiple purposes: it can be used to pay for premium AI agent services, to reward creators (a user paying a small fee in SHELL to use a high-end agent, for instance), and for governance of platform parameters. MyShell has hinted at a stake-to-earn model, where holding or staking SHELL might give access to advanced features or a share in platform fees. With a circulating market cap of about $140 million as of Feb 2024, SHELL is one of the largest AI-agent-related tokens on BNB Chain, reflecting strong market confidence.
Partnerships/Adoption: MyShell has a notably strong roster of investors and backers. It raised roughly $16.6 million over three funding rounds, with investors including Dragonfly Capital, Animoca Brands, OKX Ventures, GSR, Balaji Srinivasan, and others. Such backing brings not only capital but also ecosystem support (for example, Animoca could help with gaming AI agents, Balaji with strategic guidance). On the adoption front, MyShell’s oversubscribed token sale and $100M+ valuation signal a large community interest. It is considered a leader among BNB Chain’s AI projects, often spotlighted by BNB Chain’s team (even CZ, Binance’s CEO, mentioned the trend of AI agents on BNB Chain in early 2024, which coincided with rising interest in projects like MyShell). MyShell’s applications (OpenVoice, etc.) have thousands of users testing AI bots, and the platform is building out real-world use cases – for instance, AI customer support bots for Web3 projects, or AI tutors in Telegram for educational content. As of early 2024, MyShell and only a couple of others (e.g. Cookie DAO, ChainGPT) had crossed the $100M market cap mark in BNB’s AI sector, making it a bellwether for that ecosystem. Its combination of enterprise partnerships (with those investors’ portfolios) and grassroots creator adoption will determine its long-term success, but it has clearly achieved early market fit as an AI agent platform.

ChainGPT (CGPT)

Ecosystem: BNB Chain (expanding to its own chain in development)
Type: Application (AI services platform, evolving toward infrastructure)
Description: ChainGPT is an AI-driven platform focused on blockchain and crypto use cases, offering everything from AI chatbots that answer crypto queries to smart contract generators, trading signal bots, and NFT art generators. It essentially provides a suite of AI tools tailored for the Web3 community. The project’s vision is to “unleash the power of AI in blockchain” by making advanced AI accessible to developers, traders, and enterprises in the crypto space. ChainGPT started as an application layer project on BNB Chain but has since announced plans for an AIVM (AI Virtual Machine) blockchain launching in 2025, which would make it a specialized infrastructure for on-chain AI agents and applications.
How it Integrates AI Agents: Currently, ChainGPT integrates AI through various specialized agents: for example, an AI chatbot that can explain complex crypto concepts or perform Solidity code review (like a ChatGPT fine-tuned for crypto), an AI contract generator where users input desired functionality and the AI outputs a draft smart contract, and AI analytics bots that monitor on-chain data or social media to give insights. In January 2025, ChainGPT launched “Nova”, an autonomous AI agent on X (Twitter) that scans crypto news and social feeds to provide real-time insights and updates autonomously. Nova acts as a self-governing news broadcaster, illustrating how ChainGPT can deploy agents that interact with Web2 platforms on behalf of users or communities. With the upcoming AIVM blockchain, ChainGPT aims to allow developers to deploy their own AI agents as smart contracts – for instance, a trading agent that lives on-chain and can directly interface with DEXs, or an AI moderation agent that manages a DAO’s community content. The AIVM will be optimized for AI computations and likely integrate storage of AI models, meaning these agents can be more sophisticated and autonomous, running fully on decentralized infrastructure rather than relying on off-chain AI APIs. ChainGPT also provides an AI Agent Launchpad and frameworks (as indicated on BNB Chain’s site) to simplify creating AI agents on BNB Chain, which has been part of BNB’s push for AI-first development.
Token: CGPT – ChainGPT’s native token. CGPT is used across the platform’s services: users may need to hold or spend CGPT to access premium AI features (e.g., unlimited chatbot queries or advanced code generation). It also is staked by AI agent developers to get priority or enhanced resources. With the launch of ChainGPT’s own chain, CGPT will likely become the gas and governance token of the AIVM blockchain, securing the network and paying for AI computational fees. As of February 2024, CGPT’s market cap was about $110 million, reflecting a strong community. The tokenomics include burns and buybacks – for instance, a portion of revenue from enterprise API usage might be used to burn CGPT, driving value.
Partnerships/Adoption: ChainGPT has quickly grown to be one of the top AI projects on BNB Chain. It’s supported by the BNB Chain ecosystem (frequently highlighted in BNB Chain’s AI showcases), indicating a level of partnership or at least mutual promotion. The project is often compared alongside MyShell and others, but ChainGPT’s differentiator is its broad toolkit and its ambition to launch a dedicated AI blockchain. In terms of adoption, ChainGPT’s public tools (like its web AI chatbot) have been used by tens of thousands of users seeking crypto info. Its developer tools are integrated by some BSC dApps for customer support and code audits. The launch of Nova (the Twitter agent) gained attention as a novel way to deliver crypto news via an AI persona. Additionally, ChainGPT’s team has been active in forming alliances – for example, working with other projects to integrate their AI, and hosting hackathons to build on ChainGPT’s API. The promise of the AIVM chain also attracted investors looking for the “next big infrastructure” in AI + blockchain. If ChainGPT successfully rolls out its chain, it could see adoption by AI developers who want a blockchain optimized for their needs (much like how Flow catered to NFTs). For now, ChainGPT serves as a bridge between AI tech (like large language models) and crypto-specific applications, and its growing user base on BNB Chain sets the stage for its next evolution.

To facilitate quick comparison, the table below summarizes the key details of the projects discussed above:

Project	Ecosystem	Type	Description & AI Integration	Token (Ticker)	Notable Partnerships / Adoption
ASI Alliance (Fetch.ai + SingularityNET + Ocean)	Multi-chain (Ethereum, Cardano)	Infrastructure (decentralized AI network & marketplace)	Merger of 3 major AI platforms to create an open, scalable network for AI agents. Enables development, sharing, and coordination of AI services (“agents”) on-chain. Agents perform tasks collectively in a digital workforce model.	ASI (unified token for all three, launched 2024) (Replaced AGIX, FET, OCEAN)	Alliance formed by Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, Ocean Protocol (leaders: Humayun Sheikh, Ben Goertzel, Trent McConaghy). Token merger completed June 2024. Aims to challenge Big Tech in AI. Large community and multi-billion market cap.
Bittensor	Substrate / Polkadot (own network)	Infrastructure (decentralized AI training network)	Peer-to-peer network where participants (nodes) train and share machine learning models. Uses novel consensus to reward useful AI models with TAO. Essentially creates a global “hive mind” of AI agents that learn and improve together.	TAO (utility token with continuous issuance)	Collaborated with Cerebras to release open-source 3B-parameter AI model (16k+ downloads). Grew from 100k to ~200k accounts in 2024. Widely regarded as leading decentralized AI network.
Oraichain	Cosmos (AI Layer-1 chain)	Infrastructure (AI oracle & L1 for AI dApps)	Connects smart contracts with AI APIs/data via oracles. Allows on-chain execution of AI models (e.g. ML inference) with verifiable results. Provides AI marketplace and tools for building AI-driven dApps. Recently launched agents.land (Solana-based AI agent launchpad) powered by Oraichain’s tech.	ORAI (governance & fee token)	Partnered with Ocean Protocol to integrate AI data services. Integrated with Solana (agents.land) to deploy AI agents cross-chain. Backed by enterprises (e.g. Rikkeisoft). Known as first AI oracle blockchain, active since 2020.
Cortex	Cortex Chain (EVM-compatible L1)	Infrastructure (AI smart contracts platform)	First blockchain to support on-chain AI inference in smart contracts. Allows developers to upload AI models to the blockchain and enables smart contracts to make AI-driven decisions using those models. Features a GPU-enhanced VM for machine learning execution.	CTXC (PoW mineable; gas token for AI execution)	Launched 2018. Recognized as a pioneer merging AI with smart contracts. Use cases include AI-powered DeFi bots, evolving NFT avatars, on-chain predictive analytics. Listed on major exchanges (Binance, etc.), providing early example of AI/blockchain integration.
Injective – Smart Agent Hub	Cosmos (Injective L1, interoperable with Solana)	Infrastructure (AI agent hub & cross-chain toolkit)	Layer-1 DeFi chain adding a platform for developers to create and deploy autonomous AI agents that can operate across multiple blockchains. Provides frameworks for agent logic (LLM integration) and cross-chain asset control. Aims to facilitate AI agents in trading, gaming, social apps, etc., with Solana VM support for high performance.	INJ (PoS staking, fee token)	Collaboration with Sonic (Solana SVM) to launch the Smart Agent Hub (testnet Q1 2025). Existing Injective ecosystem (DEXs, derivatives) will serve as initial playground for AI agents. Backed by Pantera, Jump; expanding into AI aligns with Cosmos-wide trend (complements Oraichain). Adoption expected as Injective integrates AI agents into its 850k+ user ecosystem.
Altered State Machine (ASM)	Ethereum (NFT-based, plus IMX)	Application (AI agents for gaming & metaverse)	Platform for owning and training AI agents as NFTs (“Non-Fungible Intelligence”). Users get ASM Brain NFTs (AI models) that can be paired with avatar NFTs to create intelligent game characters or digital beings. Agents learn and evolve (stored as NFT metadata) and can operate autonomously in games (e.g. AI football, boxing).	ASTO (utility & governance token)	Partnered with FIFA to launch AI League (AI-driven World Cup soccer game). Also working with Muhammad Ali brand for an AI boxing game. Over 5,500 ASM Brains minted; active community training AI “All-Stars”. Part of Futureverse metaverse alliance, backed by investors like Crypto Kitties and Sound Ventures.
Alethea AI (CharacterGPT)	Ethereum / Polygon / Base	Application (AI avatar & iNFT platform)	Enables creation of interactive AI avatars (agents) as NFTs, called intelligent NFTs (iNFTs). Users can generate characters with unique personalities using CharacterGPT (multimodal AI) and deploy them as emotive, conversational avatars. These AI agents can converse, display emotions, and be used for entertainment, customer service, or metaverse interactions.	ALI (Artificial Liquid Intelligence token)	Raised by Binance, Crypto.com, Multicoin. Launched AI avatars on Base (Coinbase) in 2024 to reach mass users. Partnered with Polygon for scalability. Thousands of AI avatars created; notable demo included a 1:1 iNFT of Binance’s “Han” AI influencer. Active collaborations (e.g. with YGG for AI companions) and developer community on “The AI Protocol”.
Numerai	Ethereum (off-chain platform)	Application (crowd-sourced AI hedge fund)	Global network of AI models predicting stock markets, coordinated via crypto. Data scientists around the world submit ML model predictions; their models act as “agents” informing Numerai’s hedge fund. Staking of NMR token on models creates a tournament where good predictions earn rewards and bad ones lose stake. The hedge fund aggregates the top models to trade in traditional markets.	NMR (Numeraire, ERC-20 token)	Over 5,500 data scientists participate, staking >600k NMR in total. Numerai’s hedge fund reportedly achieved 20% returns during a down market, highlighting the model’s success. Backed by Union Square Ventures, Paradigm. First hedge fund to launch a crypto token (2017). Paid out $14M+ in NMR to contributors so far.
ai16z	Solana (DAO, considering new L1)	Application (AI-run trading fund & DAO)	An autonomous on-chain trading fund governed by token holders. Utilizes an AI agent (“AI Marc”) as a virtual fund manager that analyzes market data and executes trades on Solana DEXs without human intervention. Token holders form a DAO that can adjust the AI’s parameters and strategies via proposals (akin to a decentralized, AI-driven hedge fund).	AI16Z (governance & fund token)	Launched Oct 2024; by early 2025 reached $2.5 B+ market cap. Built on a16z’s Eliza AI framework; partnership with Ryze Labs for tech support. Growing community of token holders influencing strategy. Plans for an AI launchpad and possibly its own Layer-1 dedicated to AI apps. One of the first successful AI DAO experiments in DeFi.
MyShell	BNB Chain (BSC)	Application (AI agent creation platform)	Decentralized platform for creators to build and monetize AI agents/bots for consumers. Offers ready-made modules (voice, chat, TTS) and an open ShellAgent protocol to integrate AI models and deploy agents on messaging apps or dApps. Emphasizes user-friendly, no-code agent creation and on-chain integration (agents can initiate on-chain actions).	SHELL (utility & governance token)	Secured $16.6 M funding from top VCs (Dragonfly, Animoca, OKX Ventures, Balaji, etc.). Market cap ~$140 M (Feb 2024)– among BNB’s largest AI projects. Token sale oversubscribed 100×. Supported by BNB Chain (highlighted in CZ’s posts). Actively used for AI chatbots, with growing creator and user community.
ChainGPT	BNB Chain (planning own chain)	Application (AI services & soon L1 for AI)	An AI platform for crypto offering GPT-powered chatbots, code and contract generators, market analysis bots, and more. Tailored to answer blockchain queries, audit contracts, and automate tasks. Deploying autonomous agents like Nova, which provides real-time Web3 news on social media. Developing an “AIVM” blockchain to allow fully on-chain AI agents and dApps.	CGPT (utility token; future gas of AIVM)	$110 M market cap (Feb 2024). Active user adoption of its AI chatbot and developer APIs. Featured by BNB Chain as a top AI project. Nova AI agent launched on Twitter in Jan 2025 gained traction. The upcoming chain (2025) aims to attract AI developers and is closely watched as an AI-first blockchain initiative.

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