The Rise and Development of AI Agents in the Web3 Field

Recently, on-chain activities related to AI have shown significant growth, with the number of daily active unique wallets reaching approximately 4.5 million, an increase of 86% compared to the beginning of the year. The share of AI in the Web3 sector has jumped from 9% at the start of the year to 19%, second only to gaming applications at 20%, demonstrating a strong development momentum.

This rapid growth is not merely the result of market speculation, but reflects a fundamental change in the way users interact with decentralized applications ( dApp ). Whether in decentralized finance ( DeFi ), social media, or gaming, AI agents are becoming the new layer of on-chain interaction. They do not replace users, but enhance the user experience through automation, optimization, and agent interactions.

Data shows that AI has become the focus of discussions in the Web3 field over the past month and is likely to dominate the next phase of development in the industry. This article will delve into the evolution of AI agents, application scenarios, the role of tokens, and the scale of capital supporting this transition.

Main Findings

• In June, AI's dominance on the blockchain rose from 9% in January to 19%, with trading activity increasing by 86% and the number of daily active unique wallets reaching 4.5 million.
• As of June 2025, the AI agent project has raised $1.39 billion in funding, a 9.4% increase compared to the total financing amount for the previous year.
• Since November 2024, there have been over 17,000 agents launched on a certain protocol, with an average of more than 85 new ones added daily.
• Despite the market value of AI tokens having decreased by 64% from the peak in early June, it still stands at 5.9 billion USD, with a 24-hour trading volume of 1.4 billion USD.
• Europe ( 26.2% ) and Asia ( 21.9% ) are the regions where AI dApps are used the most, followed by North America ( 15.8% ).

Overview of AI Agents

AI agents are autonomous software programs capable of executing tasks, making decisions, or interacting with users based on objectives, instructions, or real-time data. In the Web3 ecosystem, crypto-native agents with unique capabilities and roles are being birthed.

These agents are evolving towards specialization. Some act as on-chain DeFi agents, executing trades, managing yield strategies, or serving as portfolio managers. Others are social agents, managing user profiles in decentralized social applications, and even responding to messages and interacting. In the gaming domain, a new type of native game agent has emerged; these AI companions are trained on game backgrounds, mechanics, or player behaviors to serve as helpful guides or even become opponents.

According to statistics from a certain data platform, there are currently 1,748 AI agents active in various environments. Since its launch in November 2024, a certain protocol that allows users to create and deploy AI agents has gone live with over 17,000 agents. The actual number may be higher, as multiple blockchains are prioritizing the construction of infrastructure for the creation, training, and deployment of AI agents.

AI Proxy Token: Utility, Popularity, and Capital

In Web3, most AI agent projects are launched alongside tokens. The role of these tokens varies depending on the project's vision and may be used for community governance, providing access to premium features, or as a mechanism for raising development funds, especially in cases where training and maintaining AI agents still require substantial resources.

For certain projects, tokens mainly serve as a capitalization strategy to gain liquidity, reward early users, or take advantage of market hype. There are also some tokens that resemble speculative currencies disguised as AI, lacking substantial technological support.

Despite the noise in the market, the AI proxy token market has made significant progress. Currently, the total market capitalization of AI-related tokens has reached $5.9 billion, accounting for 0.18% of the entire cryptocurrency market. The trading volume in the past 24 hours has exceeded $1.4 billion.

However, the recent trend is not very optimistic. At the beginning of this month, the market value of the AI agent sector was $16.6 billion, which means a 64% shrinkage in the short term. This reflects the broader market conditions and indicates the high volatility of early-stage sectors, where token popularity often surpasses actual utility.

Major Blockchains Supporting AI dApps

The success of AI agents largely depends on the underlying infrastructure. Blockchains that support high-capacity AI dApps lay the groundwork for the deployment, training, and interaction of AI agents.

In the first half of 2025, a certain blockchain leads with nearly 1.9 million daily active users, demonstrating the vigorous development of AI infrastructure driven by social or agent-oriented dApps. The other two blockchains follow closely, both showing strong usage rates related to lightweight to gamified AI services.

Although not all of these dApps have deployed agents yet, the momentum is clearly evident. As AI agent frameworks mature, these blockchains may usher in the next wave of autonomous agents, whether in DeFi, gaming, or social applications.

User Geographic Distribution

In the first half of 2025, according to traffic data from a certain platform, Europe leads in AI-related dApp interactions, accounting for 26.2%. Asia follows closely with 21.9%, and North America accounts for 15.8%. South America has a smaller share at 2.5%, but the user base is growing. 33% of the traffic comes from unspecified or hard-to-classify regions.

This global distribution indicates that AI agents are not limited to specific regions. Whether it's DeFi agents in Asia, social agents in Europe, or gaming partners in North America, the demand is diverse and increasingly transcends continental boundaries.

As the industry matures, more localized agency behavior, better language modeling, and even agency personalities with specific regional characteristics are expected to emerge. Currently, the competitive landscape is vast, and the race for user attention is global.

Capital Inflow in the AI Agent Field

Despite centralized AI giants raising billions of dollars in funding, the AI agent economy in Web3 is also beginning to gain attention. By 2025, AI agent projects have raised $1.39 billion, an increase of 9.4% from the previous year. This indicates that investors are increasingly confident that autonomous on-chain agents may become the next frontier.

Although this figure is far lower than the investment amount in centralized AI, it is worth noting that the funding in the AI agent space is now comparable to or even exceeds that in other Web3 segments such as blockchain gaming. In the Web3 space, investors are increasingly viewing AI agents as a new "primitive" that can reshape the way users interact with protocols, navigate dApps, and even automate personal finance strategies.

This momentum is gaining strength. If it continues, 2025 could become the year when AI agents attract more funding than any other Web3 vertical.

Conclusion

The rise of AI agents marks a profound shift in the way users interact with decentralized systems. From DeFi traders and social partners to game-native assistants, agents are rapidly evolving from experimental robots into infrastructure.

These data corroborate this trend. Since the end of 2024, over 17,000 virtual agents have gone live. Even in a sluggish market, the AI token market has reached a scale of $5.9 billion and is continuing to grow. This year alone, startups focused on agents have raised $1.39 billion in funding. User participation is global, showing strong performance in Europe, Asia, and North America.

However, challenges still exist. Many tokens rely more on speculation than on practical utility. Not all agents can fulfill their autonomy promises. Cross-chain infrastructure remains unbalanced. But as tools mature and real-world use cases become widespread, the agent economy is approaching a new benchmark, and interaction with on-chain AI will become the norm.

The competition to create smarter agents, a more powerful ecosystem, and clearer standards has already begun. And this is just the beginning.