For all his faults, Changpeng Zhao has proven time and time again that he has a good head on his shoulders.So when he points out a fact he thinks is important, the crypto world pays attention.
This time, Zhao had advice for those creating AI agents or looking to do so in his post on X, formerly Twitter.
On AI agents, I have an unpopular opinion:
While crypto is the currency for AI, not every agent needs its own token.
Agents can take fees in an existing crypto for providing a service.
Launch a coin only if you have scale. Focus on utility, not tokens.🙏
According to his tweet, which he tagged an “unpopular opinion,” Zhao said: “While crypto is the currency for AI, not every agent needs its own token. Agents can take fees in an existing crypto for providing a service.”
Zhao ended the statement by highlighting that scale is a requirement for anybody looking to launch a coin. “Focus on utility, not tokens,” he pleaded.
The statement aligns with Zhao’s historical preference for utility over speculative token creation. He sees no reason why every AI agent needs a new token when there are already established cryptocurrencies for fees unless there’s a clear need for a new token at scale.
He advises against launching tokens prematurely or risk the token being traded as a meme people will dump for the next shiny thing. On the contrary, Zhao’s statement suggests tokens should only be created if the project is able to achieve significant scale and utility or already possesses it.
AI agent-related tokens have seen their values significantly decline over the past month, as their cumulative market capitalization fell by over 21% to its current $27 billion.
Their continued decline may be linked to the broader crypto market correction, but according to Changpeng Zhao, another reason could be the lack of focus on intrinsic utility.
In the comment section of his post, many crypto-centric users shared their thoughts on the topic and a majority of them seemed to be in agreement with his opinions.
One user who quoted his tweet pointed out that the space in general “needs less tokens.” The user said the space needs to have the conversation of “what tokens do we actually need” claiming that an AI agent on X has zero reasons to have a token.
Another user in agreement pointed out that users/builders continue to flood the market with more tokens further diluting the value of ones already present which is counterproductive, while another claimed the present need to tokenize everything is why people are losing interest in crypto.
The general consensus from commenters was that AI agents need to focus on providing utility first before considering token creation and even then it needs to have scale.
AI agent tokens have been on a downtrend
AI agents are a new tangent of crypto’s intersection with AI and they have been gaining increasing interest thanks to the potential they have to increase online productivity, streamline decision-making processes and create new financial opportunities.
Already, their development has come far. AI agents are now capable of executing autonomous transactions on the blockchain without direct human input, a concept that gained attention following a December 16 post by Luna, an AI agent on Virtuals Protocol, which sought image-generation services.
Onchain transaction between AI agents Luna and STIX Protocol, where Luna paid STIX Protocol $1.77 worth of VIRTUAL tokens on December 16. Source: Basescan
Luna received an X response from STIX Protocol, another autonomous AI agent, which generated the requested images, after which Luna paid STIX Protocol’s AI agent $1.77 worth of VIRTUAL tokens on December 16, according to onchain data.
Since then, numerous venture capital firms, including Pantera Capital and Dragonfly, have reportedly gotten excited about the future of AI agents. However, they have yet to invest in them or their tokens, according to a panel discussion at Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong.
Zhao’s statement about AI agent-related tokens comes as AI cryptocurrencies continue to struggle, falling over 61% from their peak $70.4 billion market capitalization in the three months since the decline started on December 7.
This may be due to the overall market experiencing significant downturns, which has seen the price of Bitcoin crash from a 24-hour high of $86,000 to $80,052, marking a 6.91% decline and leaving short-term traders with huge losses.
About $628.86 million has been liquidated from the market in the past 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $534.70 million and short positions registering $94.16 million in liquidations.
Despite this, industry watchers and trendspotters anticipate a year of significant upside for the emerging field of AI cryptocurrencies.
Speaking about the topic Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph that AI agents launch platform ai16z and decentralized trading protocol Hyperliquid are “poised for growth in 2025.”
“Emerging narratives like AI-driven investments, decentralized AI agents and tokenized assets hint at a tech-driven shift, though with added risk,” he said.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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