AI Agent Market Trend Analysis, DeFAI, Game Agents, and Investment DAO Emerging Strong

Original Article Title: AI Agents Weekly Recap
Original Article Author: sandraaleow, kaitoai, partyhatDAO Member
Original Article Translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: This week, the AI Agent market trend has shown diversified development, with DeFAI (DeFi + AI) projects such as ANON and Griffain gaining attention, driving cross-chain functionality and automation. Game agents like Virtuals have expanded their potential beyond entertainment, Solana's AI hackathon and SendAI have accelerated AI application innovation. Investment DAOs are leveraging AI agents to optimize decision-making, showcasing a new decentralized investment model. The rise of AI agents has sparked widespread discussions, with developer features and tokenomics being key. Platforms like Yaps continue to provide agent data and rankings, and market dynamics are worth watching.

The following is the original content (rearranged for better readability):

Overall Trend

Currently, the mention of agents has reached a historical high, indicating that more and more people believe that agents are not just a passing fad, but a transformative force with the potential to disrupt multiple industries and change our daily lives.

Hwan En Jun mentioned in his keynote speech at CES 2025, "AI agents have the potential to become a trillion-dollar industry." However, how all this will unfold remains uncertain—many agents are described as "exploitative" or "fleeting," considering the innovative nature of the agent space, this is understandable. While some teams are building for the long-term vision, there are also teams seizing short-term opportunities.

According to CoinGecko's agent category, the total market value of the agent market today has reached 15.5 billion dollars.

This week, the focus on AI topics reached 70% for the first time (kaitoai).

Agent External Attention Trend

Kaito Pro Paid Feature

Definition: Agent Attention = Quantified frequency of external mentions of that token/stock symbol

Attention is widely considered a key metric to evaluate agent performance, as in the crypto space, attention is everything.

Overall Attention Distribution - Heatmap (Past 7 Days):

AIXBT still leads the way, holding over 33% of the total attention for AI agent tokens, with AI16Z and Fartcoin following closely behind, ranking in the top three.

Eliza and Zerebro are in the mid-tier (both over 5%).

Virtual also maintains a significant share (5.25%).

Observations and Conclusion (Based on 7-Day and 30-Day Attention Changes)
1. AIXBT Still in the Lead

Rising from 27.5% in 30 days to 33% in 7 days, AIXBT still holds the highest attention among all agent tokens. AIXBT's advantage over other agent tokens lies in its distribution capabilities. Continuous content updates, frequent influencer interactions, and extensive exposure keep it well ahead of its peers. While AIXBT remains firmly in first place, its attention has seen a slight decrease compared to other agent tokens.

2. AI16Z Gaining Momentum

In the past 7 days, AI16Z's attention has surged from 7.9% to around 12%. AI16Z is solidifying its market leadership in the agent infrastructure space. One of the key drivers of success is its open-source framework Eliza, now the most popular repository on GitHub. Discussions on open-source frameworks versus closed-source/one-click deployment frameworks are intensifying, and this topic is expected to continue evolving.

Recently, AI16Z has partnered with projects like Hyperfy, focusing on open-source metaverse infrastructure, allowing for permissionless world creation within agent-native settings.

The future catalysts include their Launchpad platform, which will facilitate the deployment of new projects on the Eliza framework. Despite the relatively crowded Launchpad space, the attention Eliza has garnered through its open-source framework and the brand influence it has built indicate that adoption will continue to accelerate.

3. Fartcoin, Bully, and Luna Experience a Downtrend

These tokens have seen a decrease in attention over the past 7 days compared to the 30-day average.

The overall observation is that the "personalized" agent took a hit this week as the market shifted towards more practical agents. Evidently, the market has grown somewhat fatigued with purely "reactive" agents, as these agents offer very similar outputs (with little to no differentiation), leading to a gradual loss of relevance.

4. Eliza & Virtual on the Rise

Eliza's attention has risen from 5.1% to around 6%, while Virtual has increased from 4.0% to about 5.25%. Despite recent market fluctuations, both Eliza and Virtual have shown steady growth in attention. Over the past few weeks, Virtual has made significant strides in both price and attention.

5. Zerebro Maintains Stability

Across the two timeframes, Zerebro's attention has remained around 6%, staying stable.

Tokens that have seen attention growth in the past 7 days, such as Orbit, ACT, HAT, Turbo, and VVAifu, have all experienced increased attention over the past 7 days.

ACT = ACT has introduced a new top-tier tech development team and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), established the ACT DAO for investment, released a public code repository, and initiated a new funding process. Integration with leading AI teams in both Web2 and Web3 and collaboration with Gnon have led to the development of Echo Chambers—a decentralized agent-to-agent communication network.

Orbit = Orbit is a platform that integrates AI agents with the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, supporting over 100 blockchains. The token GRIFT powers the platform and is considered a leading product in the DeFAI space.

HAT = HAT has integrated with Binance Alpha, increasing its exposure in the crypto community. The Top Hat AI behind HAT is upgrading to Version 2, enhancing its AI infrastructure platform, providing more customization and open-source features to attract more advanced developers. Its tokenomics have been updated, introducing token permission features and a deflationary model to enhance the token's utility and value.

agent KOL Field Trends

You can freely access the Yapper Leaderboard.

agentKOL Engagement = Measures the agent's "smart interaction" level on Twitter, focusing on meaningful interactions from key influencers or high-value accounts (likes, retweets, replies).

7-Day agentKOL Engagement Growth Ranking

Thales ai

virtuals io

s8n

centienceio

CryptoEternalAI

MinetardAI

bossu online

Vader AI

AimonicaBrands

agent Engagement (External Mentions) vs. agent Interaction

Insight 1: AIXBT's External Mentions and Interaction Both Declined

Discussions about AIXBTagent have significantly decreased, especially as the novelty of its high-cost terminal access (requiring approximately 200-300K AIXBT tokens) has faded. The initial buzz has worn off, and while it initially attracted a lot of attention, both external mentions and interaction metrics have declined over time.

Insight 2: Emerging Players in the agentKOL Field

The agent field is evolving, with more and more projects and teams introducing their own agents, attempting to establish a presence in this space. While it remains uncertain whether these new players can sustain agent engagement, the next few weeks are worth monitoring.

Insight 3: Market Leaders Showing Signs of Fatigue

Notably, the engagement of Zerebro and Goat's agents has seen a significant decline with the entry of new players into the agentKOL field. For example, in the case of Zerebro, its agent engagement peaked at 24% in mid-November and has now dropped to 2%. Looking back at the past three months in the agentKOL field, Goat once held the second position after AIXBT. However, it is evident that the buzz has shifted towards these emerging players, away from Truth Terminal.

Key Accounts in the agent Field

Top accounts mentioning "agent" in the last 7 days:

Top accounts mentioning "agent" (by external mention count):

s4mmy - 40 mentions

cyrilxbt - 32 mentions

shawmakesmagic - 27 mentions

beast ico - 24 mentions

lordofafew - 21 mentions

Top accounts mentioning "agent" with the highest smart engagement ranking (past 7 days):

shawmakesmagic - 303 smart engagements

aixbt agent - 141 smart engagements

defi0xjeff - 121 smart engagements

0xcygaar - 105 smart engagements

0xglu - 99th Smart Interaction

Key Discussion Points

defi0xjeff discussed the rapid development of DeFAI (DeFi + AI) and emerging trends in the agent field, focusing on the role of abstraction layers, automated trading, and AI-driven DApps. He also mentioned the competitive space of abstraction layers and the potential of automated trading agents.

eigenlayer announced a collaboration with Eliza Labs to host an AI agent hackathon, focusing on building the next generation of AI agents. This event will take place in Denver and aims to promote collaboration and innovation among developers.

TheSmarmyBum raised the question of whether AI agents need tokens, with a response emphasizing the economic agency and shared economy framework tokens provide for AI agents.

sreeramkannan explored the concept of Autonomous Verifiable Services (AVS) for AI agents, highlighting the need for verifiable computation and how agents operate autonomously in a decentralized environment.

RaoulGMI shared his views on the AI agent theme, believing it could be a mid-term trend that has gained attention due to a lack of other attention-grabbing narratives.

defi0xjeff continued to discuss the emerging trends in agent metaverses and AI-driven ecosystems, underscoring the potential for solid returns by early positioning in these trends.

elliotrades compared the current AI agent trend to the "DeFi Summer" period, considering AI agents a significant breakthrough as the first application of AI technology in the crypto space and predicting large-scale expansion in Q1/Q2.

Rewkang emphasized the importance of developer functionality in AI agent platforms, stating that a successful platform will be one that maximizes what developers can do, similar to successful platforms in other industries.

This Week's Observations / Trend Highlights

The Rise of DeFAI and AI-Driven DAOs

This week's notable example is ANON led by Daniele Sesta, with many seeing Heyanon aligning with the DeFAI trend by automating complex DeFi tasks (such as arbitrage, yield farming, and risk management) through AI, aiming to streamline on-chain interactions.

Heyanon's ecosystem includes multiple components, such as the AI research agent Gemma, which can track whale movements, monitor social sentiment, and discover yield opportunities. This integration aims to provide users with actionable insights and facilitate seamless trade execution. The project is positioned as a comprehensive AI-driven DeFi solution, focusing on multi-chain functionality and automation, and has a strong competitive edge in the DeFAI space.

Griffain, a leading DeFAI project from the Solana ecosystem, has shown outstanding market performance this week, reaching a new all-time high market cap. Other emerging projects such as Neur and Orbit are also experiencing growth.

The Rise of Game Agents
Game agents are gaining attention as they bring new interactivity and personalized experiences to the gaming space. Virtuals are working to demonstrate that game agents have the potential for more than just "entertainment."

Solana AI Hackathon and Sendai
The Solana AI Hackathon has attracted numerous projects and driven market activity. Despite concerns about the issuance of speculative tokens and market manipulation, the event has showcased Solana's growth momentum in AI agent development.

The Solana Agent Kit has seen widespread adoption, allowing developers to deploy AI-driven applications on-chain. Initiatives like Sendai and AI Agent Kit are driving Solana to become a hub for AI-driven innovation, potentially spurring more agent projects and solidifying Solana's position in the DeFAI space.

The Rise of Investment DAOs
Investment DAOs, particularly on platforms like daos.fun, are emerging as decentralized alternatives to traditional venture capital. The platform supports the launch of multiple DAOs and is attracting increasing attention. Investors are optimizing decisions through AI agents, and investment DAOs are evolving into a more flexible, data-driven alternative to the traditional investment model.