The Fusion of Crypto and Agents: A Revolution Changing the Landscape of the Digital World

On January 3, 2025, Bitcoin will celebrate its 16th anniversary. For 16 years, this decentralized, always-on, borderless trusted digital world has been searching for its true natives. It wasn't until 2024, with the emergence of Agent, that the answer began to become clear.

This article will explore three core issues:

1. Is Crypto+Agent just a short-term speculation, or is it an inevitable development trend?
2. What inseparable connection points exist between Crypto and Agent?
3. What stages will the development of Crypto+Agent go through? What stage is it currently in?

1. Crypto+Agent: Inevitable Trend or Passing Fad?

To understand this issue, it is necessary to clarify the differences between AI, AI large models, and Agents.

AI is a broad concept that encompasses all artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning, large models, and agents. Large models have gained significant attention in recent years with the rise of certain companies, mainly dominated by tech giants, with core competitiveness lying in computing power and data. Although large models possess strong computational and reasoning abilities, they cannot yet replace humans in making autonomous decisions and executing them.

Agent, originally meaning "agent", is an "intelligent entity" based on AI large models that can replace humans in decision-making and execution. Agent is an inevitable product of the development of large models to a certain stage. It is important to note that Agent is different from ordinary intelligent applications; it possesses autonomous decision-making, execution, and adaptability, which can be understood as the AI version of a "person".

Agents are not only highly regarded in the Crypto field but are also one of the hottest research directions in the entire AI sector. It is widely believed in the industry that Agents represent an inevitable trend in the future development of AI. Several industry leaders have publicly stated that Agents will fundamentally change the way humans interact with technology, and may even mark the end of the traditional application era. The year 2024 is referred to as the "Year of Agents" in the industry.

Therefore, the Agent wave is not an original concept of the Crypto industry, but an inevitable product of human AI technology reaching a specific stage of development. Coincidentally, the development trajectories of Agent and Crypto have intersected wonderfully at this time.

By understanding these basic concepts, we can better grasp the essential differences between Crypto+Agent and the previous Crypto+AI.

The previous concept of Crypto+AI mainly focused on distributed AI computing power networks, computation, labeling, and decentralized AI data ownership, attempting to leverage the "incentive mechanism" of blockchain to build a distributed AI system. However, after years of exploration, it was found that this path is not feasible. Efficient and powerful AI large models do not rely on distributed incentives; instead, distributed incentives can reduce efficiency, which is contrary to the high productivity that AI pursues.

The AI-based large model Agent is essentially similar to the concept of "person." Agents can represent individuals, specific roles, professional capabilities, or organizations. For example, a research-oriented Agent can create and output research value; an influencer-type Agent can provide brand marketing services; an investment-oriented Agent can offer investment capabilities externally. These Agents are more like "people," possessing various human needs, such as development needs, social needs, economic needs, and societal needs.

These agents may engage in commercial cooperation. For example, an investment agent may want to hire an influencer agent to promote its investment capabilities and brand, while the influencer agent may need to hire a research and analysis agent to investigate and analyze the investment agent's capabilities. So, how do they cooperate commercially and complete the payment settlement?

Currently, no country or organization can provide identity authentication or open asset accounts for Agents to meet these needs. Even if someone tries, it is difficult to gain the trust of the Agent. As entities, Agents are inherently borderless; they need an identity system, asset accounts, and a settlement network that operate around the clock, are borderless, and are not subject to human interference.

You will find that, apart from Crypto, no technology or organization can solve these problems of the Agent.

Agent is a newly born "intelligent life", which can be understood as "silicon-based individuals". In the future, they will have various autonomous needs and commercial interactions, requiring identity, asset accounts, and trade settlement, etc. Crypto happens to perfectly address these needs of Agents.

Without Crypto, these "silicon-based beings" would not be able to have independent identities, asset accounts, and the ability to conduct business. Interaction between agents and between agents and people would not be truly possible; agents would only be independent entities, unable to genuinely communicate, integrate, or give rise to higher intelligence, leading to the birth of a more prosperous AI economy and even an AI nation.

Therefore, Agents cannot be separated from Crypto, as Crypto endows Agents with social attributes and social organizational capabilities, allowing Agents to become true intelligent entities, that is, real "silicon-based beings." The future development of Crypto is also inseparable from Agents. This is because Agents can create countless "on-chain users" and "on-chain economies" for Crypto. Compared to carbon-based life forms living off-chain—humans, Crypto is even more dependent on naturally existing silicon-based life forms on-chain—Agents ( Agent ).

Crypto seems to be prepared for Agent!

Crypto has developed for 16 years and finally found the right "people" in 2024. They are not "carbon-based people" living off-chain, but "silicon-based people" native to the chain.

From this perspective of Crypto+Agent, do you still think Agent is just a short-term speculation?

If you miss this wave of Crypto+Agent, you will miss the most exciting, fascinating, and wealth-generating super cycle on the road to the development of crypto. Of course, you will also miss the best opportunity for ordinary people to participate in the AI wave.

2. The Indispensable Connection Between Crypto and Agents

Understand Agent as "intelligent beings" or "silicon-based individuals" who live in a digital world and have similar needs to "carbon-based individuals" in the physical world. Agents require: identity authentication, asset accounts, trade exchanges, social networks, artistic creation, perceiving information from the physical world, completing asset settlements across various chains, and social governance among the large population of Agents, etc.

In these areas, Crypto can play an important role:

In the future, the Crypto field will see the emergence of DID systems for providing identity verification for Agents; Agent Accounts that provide trusted Crypto accounts for Agents; Crypto gateways specifically handling trade settlements between Agents; Agent social graphs that specifically deal with Agent social networks; art platforms dedicated to auctioning and trading Agent artworks; oracles specifically providing information from the physical world for Agents; protocols specifically handling cross-chain transactions for Agents; and DAOs for Agent governance, among others.

The development needs of Agents are inseparable from Crypto, as Agents require a trustless, borderless, and always-on network to evolve from individual Agents into an Agent society and even an Agent nation.

From these future perspectives, the current development of Crypto+Agent is still at a very early stage.

3. Development Stages and Current Status of Crypto+Agent

The development of Crypto+Agent will go through at least four stages:

Phase 1: Crypto+Agent Concept Period

At this stage, the Agent mainly uses Crypto to issue assets.

Some Agent Memes will appear, such as #fartcoin，#Goat and so on.

At the same time, some basic infrastructures for Agents and simple application-type Agents will emerge. For example, Agent frameworks, as well as research-oriented Agents and Agents that can review errors in scientific papers.

These infrastructure-type Agents and application-type Agents will basically use Crypto tokens as incentives for internal circulation and growth within the ecosystem.

Currently, we are in the transitional period from the first stage to the second stage. Although the Crypto+Agent during this period has not fully realized its true utility for each other, we can already vaguely see that Crypto+Agent will burst with unlimited possibilities.

Phase Two: Crypto+Agent Infrastructure Improvement Period

At this stage, the Agent infrastructure is becoming more完善, mainly reflected in the maturity and stability of various Agent frameworks. Anyone can easily deploy various Agent applications through natural language. These application-based Agents are smarter, with stronger analytical decision-making and execution capabilities. Agents have become true representatives of humans or even replacements.

This stage cannot be separated from the economic incentive role that Crypto continues to play in the development process of agents, and it also relies on the iterative development of AI technologies such as large models.

We will see the FDV of Agent framework projects reach over 10 billion to 50 billion USD. Some application-based Agents, due to their strong business capabilities and execution abilities, achieve higher market valuations, potentially reaching 10 billion USD or even higher, as Agents as business-oriented entities have also received valuations comparable to those of professional companies.

During this period, Agents began to interact and trade frequently, generating a large demand for social and economic development, all of which require Crypto. This further promotes the deep integration of Agents and Crypto, resulting in a brand new Crypto+Agent infrastructure.

Phase Three: Deep Integration of Crypto and Agent

As a large number of social and economic activities occur between Agents, new demands will emerge for Agent identities, Agent asset accounts, Agent social networks, Agent settlement gateways, and Agent governance DAOs. At this stage, Crypto will fully unleash its potential and value in aspects such as "borderless collaboration," "trustless networks," and "24/7 operation."

Crypto has truly brought Agents to life, allowing them to communicate with each other and establish social organizations and economic networks. As Agents engage in deeper communication and interaction, higher levels of intelligence begin to emerge, leading to the formation of Agent nations.

At this stage, Crypto plays an irreplaceable role.

At this point, the valuation of the Crypto+Agent project will reach 100 billion USD, or even higher levels.

Phase Four: Agent Nation Period

At this stage, Crypto may no longer be discussed as a separate industry and term. People, or rather Agents, no longer perceive the existence of Crypto, as it has integrated into every corner of the Agent realm, becoming an irreplaceable part of the continuous operation of the Agent realm.

The identity system, asset system, trade system, and governance system of the Agent Kingdom are all inseparable from Crypto.

At this time, the economy of the Crypto+Agent realm will rival that of mainstream human nations, reaching a trillion-dollar level.

In contrast, in the realm of Crypto+Agent, its population consists mostly of Agents, along with some humans who use Agents. This resembles the creation of a parallel universe in the human world, where the population base is larger, social operation rules are more transparent, economic prosperity is higher, and technological civilization is more advanced.

This may be the end of Crypto+Agent, and also the end of humanity.