Hey there, crypto enthusiasts! If you’ve been keeping an eye on the wild world of blockchain and AI, you’ve probably noticed some exciting shifts lately. The latest update from 0xJeff on X, posted on July 14, 2025, gives us a front-row seat to where the AI agent space stands right now—Part 20 of his ongoing thread. With Bitcoin hitting an all-time high (ATH) and Ethereum crossing $3,000, the market’s buzzing, and AI-driven projects are riding the wave. Let’s break it down and see what’s cooking!

The Market’s Heating Up

First off, the macro environment is looking promising as of mid-July 2025. Bitcoin’s ATH and Ethereum’s climb past $3,000 are pumping life into what 0xJeff calls “ETH beta” tokens—those crypto assets that tend to move with Ethereum’s price action. This is great news for AI altcoins, which are seeing a solid boost from institutional inflows. Sure, there’s some caution ahead with upcoming economic data like CPI, PPI, and Fed rate cut talks, but the overall sentiment is bullish. Unlike past cycles where altcoins followed Bitcoin’s lead, this time, the correlation with Ethereum seems stronger—something to watch closely!

1. Virtuals: The Ecosystem Evolution

Let’s start with Virtuals, a standout player in the AI agent game. With over 50,000 speculators and investors, this ecosystem has been a trading hotspot. But now, the focus is shifting from just trading to building real products. Enter the Autonomous Commerce Platform (ACP), which lets projects tap into this massive user base to monetize from day one. As a user, you can even use the “Butler” agent—a ChatGPT-like tool—to find the perfect AI solution for your needs.

The challenge? Finding that killer product to keep people coming back. Virtuals is working on making ACP faster and more accurate, but 0xJeff suggests they need a flagship product with high value and retention. One idea is to bring in bigger teams (think $15M-$50M valuations) by tweaking the $200,000 fixed-price Genesis Launch model. If they pull this off and support their original teams, we might see a third wave of growth. For now, $VIRTUAL is acting like an ETH beta token—keep an eye on its price action!

2. $TAO’s Impressive Run

Next up, Bittensor’s $TAO is stealing the spotlight with a 30% gain in the last week. Dubbed the “AI Bitcoin,” $TAO is riding a wave of market recovery and growing institutional adoption. Some subnets (smaller networks within Bittensor) are bouncing back from support levels, and while it’s unclear if a second bull run is coming, the current price and macro sentiment make it a good time to revisit those dTAO alpha tokens. If you’re into long-term holds, this might be worth a deeper dive!

3. Almanak’s Points Program Launch

Almanak is making waves with its new points program, live since July 14 and running until September 21, with a token generation event (TGE) slated for September. You can earn points by depositing into vaults, deploying strategies, referring TVL (total value locked), or just holding funds. Built by quants for everyone, Almanak uses AI agent swarms and smart contracts (ERC-7540) to create a verifiable infrastructure for big money—think over $100M TVL. Expect tokenized vaults and trading strategies on protocols like AAVE, Morpho, and Pendle to kick off the next DeFi wave. This could be a game-changer!

4. StableAI’s Quiet Rise

USDai by Angle Protocol is another sleeper hit, already boasting over $35M in TVL during its private beta. This GPU-backed stablecoin recently deployed its first ROCKCHIP RK3588 SERVERS loan, earning a juicy 15% APY, while 98% of reserves are in T-Bill yields at 4.15%. A public launch with a points program is on the horizon—stay tuned! Stablecoins like USDai are gaining traction for their yield potential, making them a solid pick for diversification.

5. Attention Capital Markets Take Shape

Both KaitoAI and cookiedotfun are gearing up for attention capital market launches. You’ll soon use your “Yap” or “Snap” activity, plus staked tokens, to snag presale allocations. If the initial launches hit big, $KAITO and $COOKIE could see a resurgence in the InfoFi (information finance) space. This is all about turning community engagement into investment opportunities—pretty cool, right?

6. Other Notable Moves

• CreatorBid’s v2 launch voting went live last Friday and is oversubscribed, though the slow pace has kept $BID stagnant.
• Tokens like $CODEC, $AVA, $COM, $CDX, and $BILLY are showing strong price action, pushing the total AI agent market cap back above $10B—let’s hope it sticks this time!

What’s the Big Picture?

The market feels healthier now, with less hype and more focus on real products and infrastructure. ETH’s rise and BTC’s ATH are fueling momentum, especially for AI tokens. Virtuals is pivoting to product-driven growth, $TAO is riding institutional hype, and Almanak could lead the next DeFi narrative. StableAI and InfoFi are also poised for breakthroughs. We might be entering a builder’s window before the next hype cycle—perfect timing to position yourself early!

Got a unique Web3 AI project? 0xJeff’s open to DMs or form submissions via his bio—could be your chance to get noticed! What do you think—ready to jump into this AI agent revolution? Drop your thoughts below!