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Emerging DeFAI agents will enable “fully autonomous, verifiable and decentralized AI-driven financial systems” and reach other industries, including insurance.
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0G Foundation, the organization overseeing the development of the 0G decentralized AI operating system, launched an $88.88 million ecosystem fund to accelerate projects creating AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents, also known as DeFAI agents.
The fund received strategic backing from Web3 investment firms, including Hack VC, Delphi Ventures, Bankless Ventures and OKX Ventures.
The fund’s launch comes at a “pivotal moment” for the convergence of blockchain and AI applications, according to Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G Labs.
“The rapid growth of AI capabilities, coupled with the need for trustless, transparent systems in finance, makes this the ideal time to accelerate the development of autonomous agents,” Heinrich told Cointelegraph.
“With the completion of our AI Alignment Node Sale and the approaching mainnet launch, 0G’s infrastructure is ready to support a new wave of AI-powered decentralized applications,” he added.
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DeFAI to transform DeFi and yield generation
Autonomous DeFAI agents will transform DeFi protocols and passive yield generation opportunities, according to Heinrich:
“The biggest premise of DeFAI agents from 0G’s perspective is to enable fully autonomous, verifiable and decentralized AI-driven financial systems that operate without centralized control.”
New use cases will include autonomous yield optimizers that can adapt to real-time market dynamics, onchain trading bots with more complex strategies, decentralized insurance agents and crosschain arbitrage agents.
OG Labs homepage. Source: 0g.ai
Beyond financial applications, Heinrich said DeFAI agents could extend into areas such as supply chain automation, AI-driven governance models and decentralized scientific research.
“By leveraging 0G’s infinitely scalable infrastructure, DeFAI agents can process vast amounts of data, adapt to market dynamics in real-time and optimize financial strategies with minimal human intervention,” Heinrich added.
The ecosystem fund comes nearly a year after 0G Labs raised $35 million in pre-seed funding from over 40 crypto investment firms to accelerate the development of onchain AI, Cointelegraph reported on March 26, 2024.
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0G’s $88 million fund: What applicants need to know
Projects applying for a share of the $88 million fund should focus on “practical solutions” addressing issues related to climate change, workforce automation, healthcare, supply chain, privacy, government efficiency, security and education.
The foundation is specifically looking for scalable and technically feasible projects that can provide tangible benefits to the broader 0G ecosystem, it said.
The foundation also seeks submissions from teams working on DeFi and social applications built via AI agents, as well as onchain data marketplaces and AI-driven gaming and metaverse solutions.
0G Labs secured $290 million in capital financing for the development of its AI operating system, Cointelegraph reported in November 2024.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
