The AI Agent coin narrative has now taken full hold of the cryptocurrency community. What used to be a cumulative market capitalization of just around $2 billion in early 2024 has now experienced a massive 8x surge and is now around $16 billion.
Topping the charts as one of the leading tokens in this niche is the Virtuals Protocol. A decentralized platform that allows users to develop and monetize AI agents across different niches, from metaverse to gaming to even digital art, has experienced a massive increase of close to 4000% since October 2024.
Will this AI agent coin continue to grow as time goes on?
What is Virtuals Protocol?
Virtuals Protocol is a decentralized platform for AI enthusiasts. Founded in 2021 by Prakash Somosundram, Colin Choo, Christopher Johnson, and Matthew, this platform allows users to develop their own AI agents and monetize them across different blockchain niches.
Key features of this ecosystem involve the following four elements:
AI Agent Creation and Tokenization
This encompasses the basic premise of Virtuals Protocol, allowing users to generate AI agents that can perform specific tasks within different niches of blockchain. These AI agents can then be tokenized into ERC-20 assets.
GAME Framework
The core standout attribute of Virtuals Protocol stems from this GAME Framework. Short for Generative Autonomous Multimodal Entities, this is an approach to creating AI agents using the minimum amount of code and modular systems. This approach bolsters creativity, enabling the creation of ecosystems involving agent-to-agent interaction and commerce via on-chain registries and smart contracts.
Co-Ownership of the AI Models
With Virtuals Protocol, developers can co-own virtual assets, such as AI companions as well as virtual influencers. It is a model that allows developers to interact with each other to develop more robust AI agents, and its appeal lies in partnership between several entities.
Revenue Generation through AI Agents
The final element of AI Agents focuses on revenue generation. The AI Agents are designed to generate revenue through application integrations, inference fees, and user interactions. The income generated is first stored inside on-chain assets and then distributed among the developers or parties that co-own the AI agent.
Many AI Agents Created on Virtuals Have Themselves Become High-Cap Assets
Virtuals Protocol has enabled the creation of some of the industry’s most nuanced AI agents. Most notable among them is ai16z. It is referred to as a proprietary momentum engine that lets investors search for the best investment opportunities.
Another popular AI Agent is Luna, who is the lead vocalist of an AI girl band and has been generating buzz across TikTok and other social media platforms.
Virtuals Protocol Price Action
Much of the initial days of 2024 marked Virtuals Protocol not getting any significant traction at all. This could be blamed on the market’s volatility and multiple market crashes, notably the Black Monday of August 15th.
However, the VIRTUAL price gained momentum in late October 2024, moving up by a massive 650% before consolidating around the $0.5 zone. This sideways trend persisted until November 24th, 2024, after which this AI agent coin gained massive momentum that pushed its price to its all-time high by 1st January, 2025.
This marked an 850% increase in its price. Multiple factors contributed to this bullish price action. Crucial among them were the rapid developments within the ecosystem. Co-ownership of AI Agents on the Base chain went live in October.
Other contributing factors were the AI agents developed within the Virtuals Protocol ecosystem. The popularity of these agents in the entertainment field funneled into the VIRTUAL price action, causing it to grow.
In the last month, the VIRTUAL price has gone up by more than 28%. The token currently trades around the $3.4 level and has a market capitalization of more than $2.2 billion.
Virtuals Protocol Price Prediction
2025
2025 could be a bullish year for Virtuals Protocol due to the AI agent narrative going very strong. Furthermore, the market’s momentum should also be taken into account. Provided the narrative continues to be strong, and AI agents generate more buzz in 2025, the VIRTUAL price may make a play for $8 by the end of 2025.
This optimistic prediction also comes from the anticipation for Bitcoin to reach new highs this year.
2026
Virtuals Protocol currently ranks 2nd in the list of top AI Agent Coins by market capitalization. So, it is expected the value of this token will increase in 2026 as well, if the AI agents created on it also see a major price surge. How the Virtuals Protocol community continues to respond to the project’s offerings should also be kept an eye on.
Based on these factors, it is possible that the VIRTUAL price may reach $10 or $12 by 2030.
2030
It is hard to estimate how the Virtuals Protocol price will perform in the long term. Multiple more AI agents could be created, and most of them may end up competing with each other. How innovative these AI agents are and whether they will be able to tackle real-world problems will contribute to how the VIRTUAL price moves on the price chart.
New AI Agent Coins Alternatives
Although Virtuals Protocol continues to foster a strong community, investors should also consider diversifying their investments so as not to give this protocol a monopoly over the ecosystem. The AI Agent space would thrive if there are more diverse voices, and one of the latest opportunities within the sector to consider is Mind of Pepe.
MIND of Pepe is an AI agent developed on the Ethereum blockchain. Developed by Elvora labs, this blockchain project has been designed to address the current challenges of the investment space. Leveraging real-time intelligence and hive-mind analysis, MIND of Pepe is set to assess the market conditions and provide the best early investment opportunities.
Furthermore, the AI Agent has been designed to interact with the community on X. A self-sovereign agent, MIND of Pepe will also allow users to create their own cryptocurrencies using a simple prompt.
Multiple YouTubers like Alessandro De Crypto have highlighted the perks of this unique cryptocurrency project.