From "Issuing Coins" to "Issuing AI Agents": Paradigm Shift and Value Capture in Web3 Traffic Entry Points

Recently, everyone has been discussing the integration of AI and Crypto, from DALL-E 3 generating NFT avatars, to ChatGPT helping write Solidity code, and now the craze for AI meme coins. Many believe this is just a passing trend, another wave of attention harvesting. But I think what we are witnessing is not just the issuance of new assets, but a profound paradigm shift in Web3 traffic entry points.

1. Old Era Traffic Entry: CEX and "Expected Listing"

Looking back at past bull markets, what was Web3’s biggest traffic entry and wealth secret? It was centralized exchanges (CEX). No matter how fancy the whitepaper or how strong the fundraising background, a project only truly gains an "ID card" when listed on top-tier exchanges like Gate, leading to a Davis double play (volume and price soaring together).

At that time, the traffic logic was linear: project team does work → expected listing → retail investors buy in and wait for listing. This model led to extreme information asymmetry, with VCs and exchanges becoming the biggest value extractors, while ordinary users often became bagholders when "listing benefits" materialized.

2. Explosion of AI Agents: Decentralization of Traffic Entry

By 2024-2025, the situation has changed. Starting from Truth Terminal (which gained popularity through memes), to various AI concept tokens today, the real traffic explosion point is shifting from "announcement on exchanges" to "community consensus" and "autonomous storytelling of AI Agents."

What is the current hot topic? AI Agents. They are no longer simple Twitter bots but are "on-chain entities" capable of autonomous asset issuance, interaction, and even monetization.

Why are AI Agents becoming the new entry point?

1. 24/7 Non-stop Attention Black Hole: Human KOLs get tired, need sleep, and team operations. AI Agents can stay online around the clock, producing content and interacting at very low cost. In the attention economy era, whoever can capture users’ time is the king.
2. Novelty of Narratives: Stories written by humans are increasingly less able to move seasoned investors. But when a code-driven AI autonomously issues a token and interacts on Twitter, this cyberpunk experience has strong viral potential, touching on human fears and curiosity about technological singularity.
3. Illusion of Fair Launch: Although many AI coins still have backers behind the scenes, compared to traditional VC rounds, AI Agent tokens often claim "fair launch." This gives retail investors, long suppressed by VCs and institutions, a glimmer of hope — at least at the start line, everyone appears "equal."

3. Deep Concerns: Computing Power Monopoly and "Real vs. Fake AI"

However, beneath the celebration, we need to think deeply.

How many current AI Agents truly possess autonomous consciousness? Or are they just puppets wrapped in a GPT shell? Genuine deep content creation should not just hype a coin’s price increase but explore its essence.

The first concern is the monopoly of computing power. As AI Agents become traffic entry points, the demand for computational resources will grow exponentially. In the future, only giants with massive GPU clusters might be able to run large-scale AI Agent networks. Will the decentralization spirit advocated by Web3 turn into another form of centralization in the face of physical bottlenecks? Can the so-called "decentralized GPU networks" truly support the real-time interaction needs of AI Agents? If not, most AI Agents will just be high-end toys hosted on Amazon Cloud or Google Cloud.

The second concern is the misalignment of value capture. Currently, the value logic behind many AI token projects is very vague. Besides speculation, what is the actual utility? Are they points for purchasing AI services? Governance tokens? If not, they are just meme variants. Truly deep projects should start exploring how to automatically funnel profits from AI Agents (such as tips from content creation or ad revenue) back to token holders, or implement true "human-machine collaboration" profit sharing via smart contracts.

4. Conclusion: Embrace Change, Stay Rational

Hosting such in-depth creative camps at Gate Square is very meaningful. It allows us to step back from noisy hype and think about the true direction of the industry.

From "issuing coins" to "issuing AI Agents," we see Web3’s efforts to shed the shadow of financial pyramid schemes. Although currently filled with bubbles and hype, bubbles often serve as the fertile ground for building new technological infrastructure.

My advice to ordinary participants is: embrace this trend, learn how to interact with AI Agents, and evaluate the technical value of projects; but also stay cautious, beware of projects that merely slap "AI" on old wine in new bottles just to sell coins.

Future deep content should not only tell you what to buy but also why to buy, along with the risks and long-term logic behind it. That is the true value of our existence as creators in Gate Square.