The market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies traded by AI agents surged by 322% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
According to CoinGecko’s 2024 “Annual Crypto Industry Report,” the market capitalisation of AI agents experienced a significant increase of 322.2% in Q4 2024, rising from $4.8 billion to $15.5 billion.
AI agents are software programs using data and the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to perform certain tasks autonomously. They are often used in decentralised finance (DeFi) or blockchain ecosystems as automated trading bots or multi-step decision-making systems that interact with smart contracts. Such agents function without human intervention. Once a human sets goals, an AI agent independently chooses the best actions to achieve them. It is also capable of dynamic decision-making and adjusting based on feedback and interaction.
In crypto trading, AI agents started being distinguished as a separate category not so long ago. The CoinGecko’s report traces its rise back to the launch of GOAT on Solana in early October 2024.
Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) is a meme coin on the Solana blockchain created by developer Andy Ayrey. It is not only traded but also actively promoted by an AI bot named Terminal of Truths (ToT), which describes GOAT as a “trojan horse” designed to spread its influence across the internet. ToT engages with the community by promoting the “Goat Gospel,” a humorous philosophy centred around the coin’s greatness. By interacting with ToT, users amplify the AI’s activity, creating a feedback loop that further promotes the coin and expands its community. At some point, the meme coin’s market cap surpassed $1B, causing headlines of the first bot-billionaire, but the public interest has waned since last November, and today GOAT’s market cap decreased to $359 million.
There are other prominent AI agent crypto projects such as Neurobro, AIXBT, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), Zerebro, Paal AI, and more. Currently, notable AI agents are primarily found on the Solana and Base blockchains. Solana initially emerged as the dominant blockchain for AI agents, holding a 56.48% share of the given market. Toward the end of 2024, Base captured a significant market share from Solana. However, the pioneer AI agent destination has begun reclaiming ground with the December launches of GRIFFAIN and AI Rig Complex (ARC).
A recent report on Binance also suggested that major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase might invest in and list AI agents in the near future. Although Coinbase provided no publicly available information indicating direct investments in AI agent projects besides a moderate interest in AI-related tokens, Binance is more proactive in this segment.
On January 7, 2025, Binance Futures introduced perpetual contracts for three AI agent tokens: Cookie (COOKIE), Alchemist (ALCH), and Swarms (SWARMS), each offering up to 75x leverage. The exchange plans to list the future contacts of these AI agent tokens in its trading portfolio. Besides, Binance has listed some AI agent tokens such as AIXBT by Virtuals (AIXBT), ChainGPT (CGPT), and Cookie DAO (COOKIE) for spot trading.
As AI agents are gaining more popularity and recognition of their potential in various industries, the discussion on leveraging AI agents for autonomous payments is also expanding. So does the development of the necessary infrastructure for such transactions. For instance, the startup called Nevermined, a pioneering provider of AI payment infrastructure for AI-to-AI transactions, has recently raised over $4 million in funding to advance AI-commerce via its “PayPal for AI” platform. With a focus on scaling AI-commerce, the company aims to power an economy driven by trillions of AI agents in the future.
