"AI Agents in Crypto: Hype or Reality? Sygnum Bank Weighs In"

Crypto AI agents have garnered significant attention in recent months, with Switzerland-based crypto bank Sygnum Bank acknowledging their remarkable traction. However, the value and practicality of these AI agents remain unclear, according to the bank's recent quarterly investment outlook report.

Sygnum researchers noted that interest in AI-related crypto projects has surged, with crypto AI agents emerging as a notable niche. While these agents have gained substantial traction, they have yet to demonstrate tangible value beyond speculation. The researchers highlighted that AI infrastructure projects, such as Bittensor (TAO), the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET), and Phala Network, are addressing more practical challenges by integrating AI services and data requirements with decentralized applications.

Crypto research AI agents and AI-driven crypto market intelligence platforms, like aixbt, are also gaining traction. Sygnum added that tokens of leading AI agent-creation protocols, such as Virtuals and ai16z, may continue to benefit as the potential for AI agents to create value is explored further. The emerging AI agents niche subsector has more than doubled in market capitalization over the last quarter, reaching $10 billion, with CoinGecko reporting a market cap of over $15 billion in Q4 2024.

Agentic AI automates processes and decision-making, enabling agents to understand complex goals, execute multi-step reasoning processes, and take actions with minimal human intervention. Sygnum is not the only company with a forward-looking perspective on agentic AI. Researchers at Franklin Templeton, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google, and Meta have all expressed optimism about the potential of AI agents in various sectors.

However, the Sygnum researchers also cautioned that the emergence of cheap and efficient Chinese AI has led to a sell-off among crypto AI projects. The launch of the latest model from Chinese AI firm DeepSeek in January rattled US AI stocks and AI-focused crypto projects. Nevertheless, AI tokens appear to have rebounded and are leading the crypto market today.