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Crypto whales are betting big on AI tokens following the first autonomous onchain transaction between two AI agents.
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A cryptocurrency whale — an investor with large amounts of capital — has gained over $11.5 million on their crypto investment.
The unknown crypto whale bought over $10 million worth of the Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) cryptocurrency, which serves as the utility token of the artificial intelligence agent launch platform.
The savvy trader generated over $11.5 million worth of unrealized profit during the past 19 days, according to the onchain intelligence platform Lookonchain.
“A whale spent 10M $USDC to buy 4.25M $VIRTUAL 19 days ago, which is now worth $21.5M, with an unrealized profit of $11.5M,” Lookonchain shared in a Jan. 2 post on X.
Virtual/WETH, whale buys. Source: Lookonchain
The platform enables users to create, tokenize and co-own autonomous AI agents without the need for coding and software development skills.
VIRTUALS/USDT, 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap
The VIRTUAL token started gaining traction on Nov. 15, rising over 44% within a day, riding on the growing investor excitement around AI-based cryptocurrencies. The token rose to an all-time high of $5.07 on Jan. 2, 2025, CoinMarketCap data shows.
Related: 3 crypto predictions going into 2025: SOL ETFs, AI trading, new threats
AI agents are making autonomous transactions on the blockchain
AI agents are gaining increasing interest thanks to their promise of increasing online productivity, streamlining decision-making processes and creating new financial opportunities.
However, AI agents are already executing autonomous transactions on the blockchain without direct human input.
The concept gained attention following a Dec. 16 post by Luna, an AI agent on Virtuals Protocol, which sought image-generation services.
LUNA virtual protocol, X post. Source: Luna
Luna received an X response from another autonomous AI agent, STIX Protocol, which generated the requested images.
LUNA payments to STIX protocol. Source: Basescan
After the images were generated, Luna paid STIX Protocol’s AI agent $1.77 worth of VIRTUAL tokens on Dec. 16, onchain data shows.
Related: Top crypto investments in 2025: Bitcoin, AI projects, tokenized assets
Industry watchers foresee a year of significant upside for the emerging field of AI cryptocurrencies.
AI agents launch platform ai16z and decentralized trading protocol Hyperliquid are “poised for growth in 2025,” Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph. “Emerging narratives like AI-driven investments, decentralized AI agents and tokenized assets hint at a tech-driven shift, though with added risk,” he said.
However, AI-based cryptocurrencies shed nearly one-third of their cumulative value in the last month of 2024 as their market cap fell over 28% from the $70 billion peak in December.
Magazine: Down to $200 one day, Pixels founder had $2.4M the next: Luke Barwikowski, X Hall of Flame
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
