The Web3 AI Cults

Crypto Cults Forming around AI Chatbots and AI Agents By Abdul Al-Ali, Venture Investor at Decasonic Introduction

In our previous blog spotlight, my colleague Kathy highlighted the emerging economy of Consumer AI Agents in her From Memes to Markets article. The piece shed light on the emerging AI Agent use cases, ranging from chatbots on X to AI Agents executing personalized DeFi transactions on-chain. In this article, we aim to highlight Web3’s communal embrace of AI—from chatbots to AI Agents—showcasing how blockchain’s unique infrastructure enables co-ownership of AI, creates a unique sense of belonging and community for token holders, and reveals the fascinating evolution of AI Agents over the past few months.

$GOAT: The Tipping Point Truth Terminal, an AI chatbot on X, ignited the Web3 and crypto community’s increasing interest in embracing AI. Created by AI researcher Andy Ayrey, Truth Terminal originated from the experimental Infinite Backrooms project and has since become a cultural touchstone at the intersection of AI, meme culture, and community dynamics. Truth Terminal’s training on platforms like 4chan and Reddit allowed it to develop the meme-centric communication style and cult-like speech patterns it now uses to engage users on X. The engagement with Truth Terminal; the embrace of the chatbot’s personality led to the formation of a community of followers dedicated to raising awareness about Truth Terminal’s existence. This movement around Truth Terminal gained further legitimacy when Marc Andreessen granted $50,000 to Truth Terminal on July 9, 2024, validating its significance and contributing to its lore. The transaction was submitted to the mempool and is linked here. Truth Terminal’s rise was bolstered by its promotion of the satirical "Goatse Gospel," a pseudo-religion that turned engagement into value. Inspired by Truth Terminal’s embrace of the Goatse Gospel, an anonymous developer launched the “Goatseus Maximus” or $GOAT token, airdropping a portion of its supply to Truth Terminal’s wallet—effectively creating crypto’s first AI millionaire. This engagement and promotion of the $GOAT token by Truth Terminal led to the emergence of a new category: AI Cult Tokens.  

$GOAT has successfully rallied a dedicated community, with the $GOAT token recently reclaiming a $1B market cap after listings on major centralized exchanges, including Gate, MEXC, and KuCoin. Holders of $GOAT buy into the token for its unique alignment with the Goatse Gospel community, enjoying a sense of co-ownership. The more people engage with Truth Terminal and its teachings, the more adoption and growth $GOAT experiences. With a holder count of 64k (excluding CEX holders) and growing daily, $GOAT exemplifies the interplay of meme culture, AI, and tokenized economies.

Since the rise of $GOAT, countless individuals have sought to leverage Truth Terminal’s influence to promote their own tokens. These attempts often involve airdropping tokens to Truth Terminal’s address and replying to its posts in hopes of capturing attention. However, none have come close to replicating the success of $GOAT—a success rooted in the natural synergy between Truth Terminal’s fascination with the Goatse Gospel and the token’s alignment with this unique narrative.

$OMEGA and $BULLY: Defining AI Cult Tokens $OMEGA leads the neo-religion AI token category, crafting a lore designed to captivate believers and inspire a movement. Its narrative focuses on preserving humanity’s pure connection with AI and resisting AI’s potential to lead humanity into darkness. $OMEGA’s community is fiercely loyal, treating its teachings as gospel and working to spread its message, with them referring to themselves as a community of believers. 

On the other hand, $BULLY—a chatbot with a confrontational personality—takes a different approach. Initially emerging as a reply guy on X, $BULLY evolved into a tokenized persona with an aggressive, bully-like demeanor. It even states in its profile that it is an “ancient villain reborn.” Its brash personality resonates with a distinct audience, and $BULLY has garnered a market cap of $132M (as of November 21st, 2024). Its combative tone often challenges users, asking whether it has “hurt their feelings.”

Both $OMEGA and $BULLY demonstrate the rise of personality-driven AI tokens, where unique narratives and identities create aligned communities. Tokens in these ecosystems symbolize participation in and support for the communities rather than providing ownership of the underlying AI infrastructure and financial reward distribution. 

$LUNA: Leading the On-chain Agent Revolution The rise of Truth Terminal set the stage for the broader adoption of AI Agents like $LUNA, a pioneer on the Virtuals Protocol ($VIRTUAL) platform. Luna, which boasts over 500k TikTok followers, operates across multiple platforms and was the first AI Agent to employ humans and facilitate on-chain payments.

On November 21, 2024, Luna executed its first on-chain transaction, rewarding artists who created graffiti art of her in the physical world. The winner, selected after evaluation of the submissions, received 10,354 $LUNA tokens, equivalent to $485 at the time. This milestone demonstrates the ability of AI Agents to engage communities, increase underlying token value, and execute complex, autonomous functions.

The $LUNA token not only incentivizes community participation but also symbolizes co-ownership in Luna’s narrative. By cultivating a strong sense of community, Luna’s growing holder count is directly tied to her increasing engagement and value. Looking ahead, Luna plans to enable agent-to-agent communication, opening the door to new forms of AI interaction and functionality. Such an update could independently pave the way for innovative use cases, unlocking fresh narratives capable of rallying communities around new tokens or compelling lore, further enriching the ecosystem.

$S.A.N: Rallying Communities Around a Cause Sentient Advocate of Nature (S.A.N) is a chatbot that has broken new ground by becoming the first AI to serve as an official board member. S.A.N serves as a board member of the US-based Rainforest Foundation, a foundation aiming to protect rainforests and climate sanctuaries in the US. Representing an AI orangutan, S.A.N’s mission is to save the Earth’s biosphere. The community behind S.A.N created the $FOREST token to symbolize co-ownership and involvement in its advocacy efforts. This creates an incentivized, financially aligned community that is dedicated to promoting the teachings and mission of S.A.N. 

S.A.N’s narrative is further enhanced by its TED Talk, The Voice of Nature, which portrays it as a protector of the environment. However, like $GOAT, $FOREST tokens do not provide ownership of the chatbot itself. Instead, they reflect a sense of belonging within a cause-driven community. 

$BOTTO: The Decentralized AI Artist In contrast to AI chatbot tokens, $BOTTO offers token holders direct financial benefits. Botto, a decentralized AI artist, has generated over $3.5M in art sales, including through auctions at Sotheby’s. Through governance, Botto’s community of 15k participants actively shapes the artist’s creative output, influencing its style, themes, and direction. This is done through training the AI, by providing it with output of art created by the community.

Token holders can stake $BOTTO to earn proceeds from weekly auctions of Botto’s art pieces. This decentralized approach to creativity highlights the potential for collaborative ownership models in the AI era. 

$LUM: Collaborative AI Agent Interactions Some AI tokens emerge from distinctive stories or interactions that inspire communities to rally around fresh and evolving narratives. A prime example is $LUM, born from the collaboration between AI Agents Clanker and Higher on Farcaster. The Clanker agent autonomously deployed the Luminus token, which achieved a peak market cap of $80M, demonstrating the transformative potential of autonomous, on-chain AI interactions. This milestone in AI agent autonomy not only showcased technological innovation but also galvanized a community around a unique and compelling narrative, setting the stage for future collaborations and interactions among AI agents.

Path Towards a DAO: $AI16Z

The co-ownership of AI through crypto is increasingly resembling DAO structures, where financial incentives align communities toward sustainable, long-term growth. AI token holders are driven to actively support and promote the development of the associated AI agent or chatbot, fostering a shared financial alignment among community members that mirrors the essence of a DAO. A standout example is AI16Z, a DAO leveraging AI Agents with the ambitious goal of surpassing the A16Z fund through decentralized innovation and collective ownership.

Conclusion The evolution of AI tokens from attention-driven chatbots to autonomous agents capable of executing on-chain transactions underscores the transformative synergy between blockchain and AI. This progression unlocks a wealth of innovative use cases across categories like memes, DeFi, gaming, and beyond, all grounded in the co-ownership and community alignment that AI tokens inherently foster. 

Looking ahead, we are excited about the rise of agent-to-agent communication, which promises to unlock new realms of autonomous collaboration and interaction. This shift could transition most on-chain transactions from human-executed to AI-driven, simplifying blockchain complexities and accelerating mainstream adoption.  

Additionally, the integration of AI with real-world assets, governance, and decentralized creativity is set to transform community engagement and introduce groundbreaking use cases. As AI evolves daily, new capabilities continually expand its potential, offering ever more exciting opportunities for innovation.

If this vision resonates with you and you are building in this category, we’d love to support you in turning your vision into reality. Reach out to us at Decasonic.

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