Crypto Integration of AI Agents Reaches All-Time High at ETHGlobal Hackathon
Crypto is increasingly integrating AI agents, evidenced by a surge in positive sentiment, as noted by Kaito. Recent months have seen AI agents incorporated into various sectors including memecoins, social media influencers like Luna, venture funds such as ai16z, launchpads like Virtual, and trading platforms including Spectral.
ETHGlobal recently held its largest hackathon since Devcon, featuring approximately 713 projects with a significant presence of AI agents. Although exact numbers are unclear, multiple judges highlighted their prevalence during the event.
One notable project was Dongle Party, an application developed by a team that utilized AI agents for token trading competitions. The app integrates 1inch APIs, allowing users to manage wallet balances, send tokens, or execute trades seamlessly.
Another significant entry was Industry AI, a top 10 finalist that created a gamified interface enabling multiple AI agents to collaborate on tasks, covering aspects from wallet creation to NFT launches and token trading.
DAOGenie, another top 10 finalist, aimed to simplify DAO governance through AI agents, building on ongoing experiments by major DAOs like Maker.
The integration of AI agents in crypto applications has been facilitated by the Coinbase Developer Platform’s (CDP) AgentKit SDK, which operates large language models. Such tools streamline the intersection of AI and crypto development.
Jesse Pollak, founder of Base, indicated that Base is focusing on utilizing AI agents for messaging within the XMTP protocol in Coinbase Wallet, viewing this as crucial for enhancing AI agent utility.
The ETHGlobal hackathon showcased how AI agents can blend naturally with the permissionless ethos of crypto, leveraging a robust stack of tools that process substantial daily value. Unlike traditional finance entities, which may adopt AI slowly and selectively, the competitive nature of crypto fosters rapid innovation.
This environment has spurred interest among researchers exploring how AI agents could transform the blockchain economy. AI agents represent only one aspect of broader applications in crypto, alongside data training initiatives like Grass, zero-knowledge machine learning projects such as Giza, and decentralized computing solutions like Akash.