What Comes After Agent Tokenization?

The concept of tokenization has always fascinated me; it seems simple, yet whenever something new is tokenized, attention quickly shifts to it.

Original Title: Random Sunday Thoughts on What Comes After Agent Tokenization? Author: Defi0xJeff, Crypto Kol Compiled by: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: This article discusses the trend of tokenization and its future development, covering advancements in tokenization across various fields such as assets, art, yield, and AI agents. It introduces how pioneers of different types of tokenization are driving industry change and explores potential future trends in tokenization, including data, attention, and AI applications. Tokenization is not only a technological innovation but also a force that changes how people interact and creates new opportunities.

The following is the original content (reorganized for readability):

The concept of tokenization has always fascinated me; it seems simple, yet whenever something new is tokenized, attention quickly shifts to it.

Here’s a summary of some tokenization trends we’ve seen so far, looking at how they have developed and what might happen in the future:

Tokenization of Assets

The initial trend of tokenization.

Bitcoin created the first decentralized, secure, and transparent ledger system, paving the way for the digital representation of assets. Subsequently, the emergence of Ethereum in 2015 introduced smart contracts, allowing assets to be programmable—whether real estate, artwork, or DeFi.

Today, Ethereum's market value has reached $470 billion, showcasing the impact of tokenization on assets.

Tokenization of Art (NFTs)

The rise of NFTs brought tokenization into the art world.

In 2017, projects like CryptoPunks and CryptoKitties brought NFTs into the public eye. By 2021, NFT trading volume reached $13 billion, becoming the preferred method for representing digital art and collectibles. Many collectibles, such as CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Art Blocks, peaked at prices in the millions of dollars in 2021.

Tokenization of Yield

Another significant change is the tokenization of yield.

Pendle fi first proposed the concept of tokenizing future yield in 2021. It created a market that allows trading of fixed and variable yields, adding flexibility and liquidity to DeFi. Pendle began to grow rapidly in 2023, especially in the LST (Liquid Staking Tokens) and points market in early 2024.

Today, the market value of $PENDLE is $1.6 billion.

Tokenization of AI Agents

Now, we are seeing the tokenization of AI agents.

Virtuals io launched a platform where users can create AI agents and tokenize them, effectively funding their development costs.

The concept of AI agents began in October 2024, with Virtuals creating a market for agent ownership. To date, the market value of $VIRTUAL has reached $2.5 billion.

What is the Next Big Trend in Tokenization?

In these areas—assets, art, yield, AI agents—we can see a clear pattern: pioneers in each field often experience rapid adoption and significant price volatility.

Here are some ideas I am keeping an eye on:

Tokenization of Data

withvana is exploring DataDAOs and Data Liquidity Pools (DLPs).

Users can contribute data to these pools, retain data ownership, and earn rewards based on the quality of their contributions. Essentially, it transforms data into a liquid, tradable asset.

$VANA launched on December 16, and the concept of data ownership tokenization could be very large.

Tokenization of Attention

kai to ai is working on attention tokenization in Web3, demonstrating the ability to generate and facilitate more attention through platforms, mind-sharing dashboards, and the recent Yap-to-Earn feature.

Their Yap per leaderboard encourages thought leaders to speak up more, earning Yap points that ultimately lead to airdrops of the $KAITO token.

Essentially, Yap = Attention = $KAITO. This is an interesting way to showcase how Web3 is redefining user engagement.

Tokenization of AI Applications

This seems to be a natural extension of the AI agent trend.

With the rise of tools and ecosystems like Replit, we are getting closer to personalized software creation. Tokenized AI applications can allow users to initiate development and own a share of the revenue generated by the applications.

Competitors in this space include alchemist AI app and myshell ai, both empowering creators to build revenue-generating AI applications, providing practical and scalable use cases.

Myshell goes a step further by allowing investors to directly invest in these applications and receive a share of the revenue generated in the future. This model not only supports development but also aligns the interests of creators and investors.

Final Thoughts

Tokenization trends always bring new waves of innovation and adoption, but what excites me is not just the technology itself—but how it brings people together and shifts focus to new opportunities.