Building a Sustainable Crypto + AI Value System

In the field of digital assets, I have experienced multiple market cycles, most of which were driven by "narratives" and "technological advancements"

Author: Alec Goh, Head of HTX Ventures

In the realm of digital assets, I have witnessed multiple market cycles. Most cycles were driven by “narratives” and “technological advancements,” but very few truly changed the "game."

Over the past six months, I have gradually realized that the combination of AI Agents and Web3 has the potential to achieve this shift. But the premise is that the industry must move beyond the early hype phase and genuinely build long-term value for end users.

We are already familiar with such stories. In 2017, the ICO boom far outpaced the delivery of products; in 2021, NFTs exploded into mainstream attention, while the infrastructure of most platforms was still not fully established. Both cycles share a common point—bubbles come quickly, and corrections follow just as swiftly.

The recent explosion of AI Agent tokens mirrors this pattern. Dozens of projects launched under the banner of "Crypto + AI," quickly attracting significant funding and attention. Some projects reached valuations of billions of dollars within weeks. But as in the past, relying solely on speculative funding cannot build a sustainable ecosystem. Once the investment enthusiasm wanes, user engagement declines, and most early projects have begun to lose long-term relevance.

However, amidst this wave of volatility, some fundamental changes have indeed occurred.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, DeepSeek achieved a critical technological breakthrough, which drew significant attention from us at HTX Ventures. The project trained large-scale models using reinforcement learning, completely independent of manually labeled data. This means that the cost of developing autonomous intelligent agents has significantly decreased, making it possible for AI Agents to be deployed at scale and with low barriers in Web3 for the first time.

This shift is significant. If crypto is to fulfill its promise of “decentralized, programmable financial infrastructure,” intelligent agents with autonomous decision-making capabilities will become an indispensable underlying component. However, we are still some distance from this vision.

I worry that the industry may once again focus solely on chasing trends while forgetting to stay grounded. Indeed, a few promising frameworks have emerged, such as Eliza, which is building composable Agent tools compatible with multi-chain ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, and TON; Launchpads like Virtual and Clanker are accelerating token issuance; and application products like GRIFFAIN and NEUR are attempting asset management and governance tools.

But these are still early signs and have not yet formed a clearly validated systemic ecosystem.

Too many AI Agent projects remain speculative rather than aiming for sustainability. If this situation continues, we may once again face the old problems of capital flight, unmet expectations, and slowed project progress.

This would be a tremendous regret.

Because these application needs are real. For most users, overly complex DeFi strategies can be automated through intelligent agents; on-chain governance can be analyzed by Agents who assess proposals, compare history, and vote according to user values; cross-chain automated operations can also be executed directly by agents based on user intent.

These scenarios are no longer hypothetical—they are already pressing real needs. What the industry currently lacks is not imagination, but stable execution capability, user retention ability, and feasible token economic models.

What should we do next?

First, we must evaluate AI Agent projects using the standards we apply to DeFi protocols.

This means stepping out of vague narratives and moving towards rigorous project logic, posing key questions:

Protocols should not only demonstrate technical potential but also showcase real use cases, stable revenue models, and quantifiable impact. This is the fundamental difference between “proof of concept” and “worth building.”

Second, beyond applications, the industry also needs to build the infrastructure that supports the successful deployment of AI Agents, including Agent frameworks, data layers, and computing resources. HTX Ventures will continue to closely monitor the development of such infrastructure, as part of it will become a necessary condition for the future, just like EVM compatibility for L1 public chains.

Finally, we need to establish an industry culture that encourages iteration and transparency.

Not every project will get it right the first time, but those teams that can persist in optimizing and continuously refining their work are likely to become the frontrunners in the next phase of Web3.

The integration of AI and crypto is not a "concept," but an "evolution." However, if we are to truly seize this opportunity, the industry must shift from "competing for attention" to "creating value."

This is not only the investment logic of HTX Ventures but also a firm belief formed through our years of experience and future judgments.

We have the tools and the Builders. Now, what we need most is—self-discipline.