Original title: Crypto AI Moats: Where Capital and Agents Converge
Original author: 0xJeff ( @Defi0xJeff ）
Compiled by: Asher ( @Asher_0210 )
As market funds tighten, capital is concentrated on projects with greater fundamental advantages, and a clearer picture is emerging: the next wave of AI innovation is about to directly impact Cryptos strongest moat.
In this process, the integration of Crypto and AI will be further deepened, and more AI application scenarios native to the Crypto ecosystem will be born. These applications will not only demonstrate the value of AI in the Crypto field, but also form its unique use cases.
Among them, the most obvious synergy point is the combination of AI and Crypto in capital efficiency and profit optimization , which is also the core demand of the Crypto ecosystem.
DeFi: On-chain Yields
DeFi has always been the core of the crypto space, with on-chain revenue and trading opportunities allowing users around the world to participate freely. However, with the rise of AI, these values can not only be captured and optimized more efficiently, but also further improve capital utilization. The intervention of AI makes DeFi not only a tool to fight inflation, but also helps users obtain excess returns. The core areas and AI empowerment include:
Stablecoins : As the main currency medium of the on-chain ecosystem, stablecoins are used in almost all on-chain transactions, lending, payments, and yield optimization;
RWA : Tokenize real assets such as government bonds, bonds, real estate, DePIN loans, GPUs, etc., so that they can enter the on-chain financial system and expand the asset range of DeFi;
Spot Perpetual Contract Trading : AI can optimize transaction fees and revenues, and improve the execution efficiency of trading strategies;
Lending market : AI improves capital efficiency and achieves better returns through intelligent lending strategies;
Yield market : AI introduces dynamic interest rate adjustments and intelligent yield strategies to make the yield market more efficient and provide users with a better interest rate environment.
The essence of DeFi is to create, transfer and increase the value of capital, and Web3 AI has shown great potential in this process. Compared with the closed Web2 system, AI in the Web3 ecosystem can utilize the openness of blockchain and token incentive mechanism to optimize asset management more intelligently.
Let’s take a look at the early practices of DeFi + AI. Although still in its early stages, several exciting cases have emerged in the field of DeFi AI (DeFAI):
Giza ( @gizatechxyz ): Its AI-driven stablecoin yield optimization agent has exceeded $1 million in TVL and has improved the yield of traditional lending strategies by more than 83% through efficient strategies, with a cumulative trading volume of $6 million;
Cod3x ( @Cod3xOrg ) : Launched the Sophon Spark Agent Trading Competition, where AI agents will compete for $1.5 million in rewards while using data to train smarter trading strategies;
Olas ( @autonolas ): Its Modius Optimus AI agents can be used as personal portfolio management tools, and its team is the only team that supports agents running on local desktops, and users can manage them through the Pearl agent app store (recently, the team also launched a $1 million Olas acceleration program);
AI DeFi access layer: Projects such as @HeyAnonai , @AIWayfinder , and @slate_ceo are working to improve the accessibility of DeFi and better embed AI into the DeFi ecosystem.
So, why are AI agents suitable for DeFi?
24/7 operation : AI agents can optimize returns, adjust positions, and respond to market changes in real time around the clock;
Automated management : AI can intelligently manage DeFi positions, greatly improving the efficiency of on-chain transactions and revenue optimization;
Multi-protocol integration (MCP) : AI agents can access more on-chain protocols and tap into more DeFi revenue opportunities. In the coming year, AI agents may undertake a large number of on-chain transactions in the DeFi ecosystem because of their efficient automation advantages.
In addition, the sectors worth paying attention to include:
Teams that promote technological innovation : Support the developer ecosystem, such as hosting hackathons, competitions, and seminars;
A team focused on privacy, verifiability, and non-custodial : giving users full control over AI agents, rather than centralized platforms;
AI agent growth indicators : such as asset custody volume (AUA)/agent management TVL, measure the influence of AI in the DeFi ecosystem.
However, the DeFi AI competition has just begun. Crypto x AI is driving an evolutionary race of survival of the fittest, and ultimately, only the strongest AI agents and teams will survive and rise.
Darwinism: The Law of Natural Selection for AI Evolution
Web3 AI is promoting a Darwinian evolution, and the survival rules of the AI ecosystem have gradually emerged: technological innovators are incentivized, while laggards are eliminated. This competitive environment is different from the traditional AI field. Web3 has built a highly competitive ecosystem where the fittest survive through token incentives, inflation issuance, and penalty mechanisms.
Among them, the key AI projects that have attracted high community attention include:
1. Bittensor: Decentralized infrastructure for all AI
Subnets allow teams to innovate freely and promote AI development;
SN6 , 41, and 44 set off the GambleFAI narrative, using AI/ML predictive capabilities to gain an advantage in the prediction market.
2. Allora: AI-driven machine learning and prediction market
Use the Topics mechanism to replace Bittensors subnet, where each Topic represents a financial prediction use case;
The team with the best AI predictions will receive the most rewards;
@steerprotocol Case: AI drives LP strategies to achieve higher returns and lower impermanent loss (IL).
3. Bit Robot: Focusing on the Robot AI Ecosystem
Built by @frodobots team, similar to Bittensor, but focused on the field of robotics;
It is planned to establish different subnetworks covering areas such as robot data, hardware, visual models, and large language models (LLMs).
The Web3 AI ecosystem has entered the Hunger Games mode, where the most technologically advanced will receive more resources, while those lagging behind will be eliminated. In the future, AI agents will assume more and more key roles in this evolutionary track, driving the entire AI ecosystem towards a more efficient and intelligent direction.
Decentralized Infrastructure
The core goal of decentralized infrastructure is to promote open collaboration and innovation and prevent technology from being monopolized by a few centralized giants. As the DeFAI and Darwinian AI ecosystems mature, these infrastructures will be further adopted to promote the development of data, model training, verifiability, privacy protection, and DePIN. At present, the market is worth paying attention to in the short and medium term:
1. Social emotional data
Social data is crucial in the AI ecosystem, helping AI understand market trends, track project development, and optimize trading decisions. Currently, many projects have made progress in this area.
Kaito AI ( @KaitoAI ): Launched Yap Leaderboard and Yaps Open Protocol, enabling teams to build on the Yaps scoring system and improve the utilization of social data;
aixbt ( @aixbt_agent ): Tracks and maps project alpha opportunities and social trends based on Twitter, helping investors discover new opportunities;
Cookie DAO (@cookiedotfun): Provides market/social intelligence analysis to help AI agents interpret market sentiment more accurately.
2. On-chain data
Currently, the leader of on-chain data has not yet been clearly identified, but this area remains one of the key directions for infrastructure development.
3. Other players in the data field
Data Scraping: @getgrass_io improves data availability by leveraging unused bandwidth for data collection;
Data ownership: @vana incentivizes personal data ownership through DataDAOs, giving users control over their own data;
Privacy Computing: @nillionnetwork develops Blind Compute technology to enhance the privacy protection of data computing, and its token NIL is about to usher in TGE.
As the DeFAI and Darwinian AI narratives deepen, infrastructure such as data, computing power, and privacy protection will see wider applications. In the future, we will see a more mature infrastructure ecosystem and a greater role for AI agents in decentralized data processing, transaction optimization, market forecasting, and more.
Crypto AI breaks the limitations of Web2 AI
Crypto AI not only enables AI to think, but also gives it the ability to trade. Through DeFi infrastructure, AI agents can autonomously manage assets, optimize capital flows, and operate independently in open, permissionless networks.
Crypto AI empowers AI agents with three capabilities
Funds flow autonomously without the need for centralized intermediaries : AI agents can directly allocate funds, optimize returns, and execute transactions in the DeFi ecosystem, avoiding being restricted by centralized institutions;
Obtain data that Web2 AI cannot reach : Decentralized data streams (On-chain Data, Social Data) provide unique information advantages to help AI make more accurate decisions on the chain;
Open collaboration makes AI evolve faster : Crypto AI relies on open models and collaborative innovation. Compared with the closed AI system in the Web2 era, it evolves faster and has a wider range of application scenarios.
The Core Value of Crypto AI
AI + DeFi, intelligent agents truly become participants in the on-chain economy : AI agents are not only tools for performing tasks, but also capable of holding assets, trading arbitrage, and optimizing capital operations, becoming an important part of the DeFi ecosystem;
Transparent and verifiable highly combinable : All AI transactions, revenue management and other operations on the chain can be tracked, and intelligent agents can be reused, iterated, and coordinated to promote the accelerated development of the AI ecosystem;
Web2 only started the AI competition, while Web3 will push AI towards an autonomous economy : AI agents will evolve from assisting humans to active creators of the on-chain economy, building a more intelligent and decentralized financial world.
In the future, Crypto AI will unlock the decentralized smart economy that Web2 AI cannot achieve. AI agents will not only optimize the DeFi ecosystem, but will also become the core engine for on-chain wealth flow and value creation.
