How AI Agents are Reshaping the Future of Web3?

Introduction

The AI Agent is surging in this round of the crypto cycle, and the founders of ai16z and Eliza, Shaw, have undoubtedly caught the direction of the tide.

ai16z is the first on-chain fund themed around AI Memes, a satirical expression derived from the well-known venture capital firm a16z. It started fundraising from scratch in October 2024 and quickly grew into an AI DAO with a market value of over $2.5 billion on Solana within just a few months; the core of ai16z, ElizaOS, is a multi-agent (Agent) simulation framework, on which developers can create, deploy, and manage autonomous AI Agents. Thanks to its first-mover advantage and the thriving TypeScript community, the Eliza codebase has over ten thousand stars on GitHub, capturing about 60% of the current market share for Web3 AI Agent development.

Despite the ongoing controversies surrounding statements on social media platforms, it does not affect Shaw's position as a key figure in the crypto AI field. The podcast held on January 6th, featuring Shaw alongside Tom Shaughnessy, co-founder of the leading crypto research firm Delphi Digital, and Ejazz from 26 Crypto Capital, is currently the most in-depth interview with Shaw on the topic of "Practicality of AI Agents," and it remains forward-looking.

In this conversation, not only were the questions insightful, but Shaw was as honest and outspoken as ever, sharing many of his views on the current AI agent use cases in the Web3 industry and his predictions for the future. He covered important topics such as agent development frameworks, token economics, and the future of open-source AGI platforms, providing a wealth of information.

Main Highlights

• The inside story of the creation of Eliza Labs and the rapid development of ai16z
• In-depth exploration of various aspects of the Eliza framework technology
• Analysis of proxy platforms and the transition from Slop Bots( to utility AI garbage Bot)
• Discussion on token economics and value capture mechanisms
• Explore cross-chain development and blockchain selection
• The vision of open-source AGI and the future of artificial intelligence agents

Entrepreneurial Experience and Journey in Asia

Shaw shared his entrepreneurial experience, including early projects being sold by partners and joining Webiverse as a chief developer. He mentioned going through many setbacks, but he has always been striving forward. Ultimately, he decided to focus on the development of the agency system and created the first version of Eliza.

Regarding the Asian developer community, Shaw mentioned that he has been meeting intensively with local developers in Asia over the past few weeks. He has seen many interesting projects involving games, virtual girlfriend applications, robots, and wearable devices. Shaw is particularly interested in integrating AI Agents into DeFi protocols, as this approach could lower the usage threshold for users and may become a killer application in the coming months.

Discussion on Use Cases and Practicality of AI Agent + DeFi Integration

Shaw stated that he is currently most interested in three types of agents: first, agents that can help you make money; second, agents that can bring products to the right customers; and third, agents that can save you time.

He believes that DeFi embodies the characteristics of "having profit opportunities that many people do not know how to use" more than anything else. Shaw mentioned that they are already collaborating with some teams, such as Orca, and the DLMM( dynamic liquidity market maker on Meteora, where the Bot can automatically identify potential arbitrage opportunities, and when the range of tokens changes, it will automatically adjust and return the profits to the user's wallet.

Shaw believes that the current large language model )LLM( is not suitable for direct trading. The value of LLM lies in transforming unstructured data into structured data. They are researching a "trust market" to analyze the recommendations of the top traders, and in the future, operations may be based on their suggestions.

Value of the Agent Framework and Development Advantages of Eliza

Shaw pointed out that Eliza is not just a packaging of ChatGPT; the key lies in the product itself and whether customers use this product and pay for it. Eliza provides an end-to-end solution that works immediately once developers clone it.

Shaw believes that these frameworks themselves are the body, while the LLM) large language model( is the brain. Eliza builds this bridge, allowing these frameworks to connect to different clients. By providing these solutions, it greatly lowers the entry barrier and reduces the amount of code developers need to write.

The Vision of Open Source AGI and the Future of AI Agents

Shaw believes that AGI is essentially a form of the internet, which is composed of numerous agents doing various tasks. It does not need to be a unified system to be called AGI, but it depends on how you define AGI.

He pointed out that if there are many different players, each open-sourcing their own models and continuously fine-tuning and optimizing these models, it will eventually form a multi-agent system similar to the internet, where they interact with each other and have their own expertise, making this system appear as a super artificial intelligence.

Discussion on Token Economics and Value Capture Mechanisms

Shaw stated that the token economic model of ai16z needs to continuously evolve and find new ways to profit. The Launchpad is not the final token economic model, but rather an initial version.

In the long term, they prefer to invest in technologies that can expand the overall ecological value. The focus in the future is not merely to launch Agents, but to invest in projects that clearly have the potential to create value. They have already started investing and acquiring, which also have their own token economic models, such as buying back tokens through revenue and using them for further investments.

Exploring Cross-Chain Development and Blockchain Selection

Shaw believes that for the future of Agents, it is hoped that it can blur the differences between chains, and tokens will definitely bridge frequently between different chains. He stated that the choice of Solana is because users are here, but there is no strong preference for the platform. The best strategy is to cover all platforms, observe where users are, and then provide services there.

slop bots)AI garbage bot( to utility transition

Shaw believes that "Slop Agents" may not completely disappear, but in the future, we will see more useful Agents. He mentioned that Agents in the DeFi space have not fully developed yet, but he believes that many new developments will emerge in the coming month.

Regarding the credibility issue of Agents, Shaw believes that a new type of "programmer influencers" will emerge, who will evaluate the legitimacy of these Agents. He predicts that within five years, users will be able to query information about any Agent at any time, and there may be a website dedicated to providing this information.