The Depth Integration of Web3 and AI Agents: An Inevitable Trend of the New Era

Recently, a report from a European venture capital firm has attracted widespread attention in the industry. The report points out that among the 20 hottest open-source startups globally, more than half are closely related to AI, including Web3 projects represented by MyShell and Fuel. This phenomenon highlights the increasing importance of AI in the Web3 field.

Starting from the end of 2023, the AI+ concept rapidly gained popularity within the Web3 circle, and by 2025, AI Agents became a hot topic in the industry. Now, almost every project is actively incorporating AI elements to keep pace with industry developments.

Let's take a look at a set of data to intuitively feel the heat of AI in Web3:

According to the classification statistics of a certain data platform, although the AI+ concept has been born for less than two years, it has already surpassed many mature tracks in terms of project quantity, variety of tokens, market capitalization, and 24-hour trading volume. While this data may not fully showcase the popularity of AI+, it is sufficient to demonstrate its important position in the industry.

Let's take a look at the financing situation:

According to data compiled by a certain research institution on AI sector financing from February to March, there were a total of 22 financing rounds in February, with a known total financing amount exceeding $97.6 million, and the highest single financing amount reaching $15 million. Although the number of financing rounds slightly decreased in March, as of the time of statistics, there have already been 14 financing rounds, with a known total financing amount exceeding $82.04 million, and the highest single financing amount also being $15 million.

From the perspective of overall financing frequency, there are at least 3 AI sector projects in weekly financing, accounting for about 10%. It is worth noting that although many financings are in the seed round or community round and strategic financing stage, we can still see many well-known venture capital firms, including several internationally renowned investment institutions and leading companies in the blockchain field.

It is evident that, whether in terms of proportion, financing amount, or the quality of investors, the financing performance of the AI+ track stands out in the emerging sectors.

So, why is Web3 so optimistic about AI+, especially the currently hottest AI Agent? Besides the broader environmental factors, the more core reason is that AI Agents are very aligned with the needs of Web3:

Natural Extension of Decentralization Philosophy

The core concept of Web3 is "decentralization" — no longer relying on centralized platforms, but rather achieving autonomous management of assets and permissions through smart contracts and distributed networks. The AI Agent is a natural extension of this concept.

Unlike traditional AI, AI Agents are no longer tools controlled by centralized institutions, but rather "intelligent agents" that can autonomously operate on blockchain networks, possessing their own on-chain identity, wallet, and assets, and able to perform actions such as data access, task execution, and asset management through on-chain protocols.

This means that the AI Agent no longer relies on any single platform license, but can act as an independent participant in the Web3 network, collaborating with human users or other Agents to complete governance voting, protocol calls, and even DeFi operations. As noted by a well-known investment institution: "AI agents are shifting from passive tools to active market actors."

The emergence of AI Agents has made "decentralization" no longer just belong to humans, but also begin to extend to "machine participants."

Inevitable Convergence of Technological Development Trends

In the current context of continuous evolution of AI technology, the rapid maturity of technologies such as GPT-like large models, Agent frameworks, TEE, and ZKP has cleared the obstacles for the implementation of AI Agents. Meanwhile, Web3 provides the three essential infrastructures required for the independent operation of AI:

• Identity System: Through DID and on-chain signatures, the AI Agent can have an independent "identity" and connect to any protocol;

• Value System: On-chain wallet and asset mechanism, allowing AI Agent to manage funds, pay Gas, and obtain incentives;

• Execution System: Smart contracts and decentralized networks that enable automatic protocol invocation and on-chain task execution.

The technological trend is shifting from "humans issuing commands, AI executing" to "AI autonomous actions, on-chain verification," and Web3 is the only ecosystem capable of supporting this closed loop.

Web3 users are increasingly seeking simplification.

From the user's perspective, whether it is ordinary players or high-net-worth investors, there are often three major challenges when participating in Web3:

• Complicated Operation Process: Participating in airdrops, deploying contracts, and on-chain interaction steps are cumbersome;

• High Knowledge Barrier: The protocol rules are complex, and ordinary users often find it daunting.

• High Attention and Time Costs: On-chain events change rapidly and there are many on-chain interactions, almost requiring "24/7 standby".

AI Agent can just provide practical support in these areas -

It can automatically execute contract interactions, place orders, or perform batch authorizations based on the set strategy; it can help users monitor wallet risks, dApp changes, and airdrop condition changes in real-time; it can also assist in extracting data and summarizing information from various social media platforms and data analysis tools.

For investors with high daily activity or large amounts of capital, the AI Agent acts like an "executive assistant": helping to save time, reduce operational errors, and seize on-chain opportunities.

Conclusion: AI Agent, not just a new concept

AI Agent should not be simply regarded as another "new opportunity" in Web3; it is more like a belated function implementation.

In the past, the Web3 world constantly told beautiful stories of "decentralized finance", "data ownership", and "user sovereignty", but many narratives remained at the level of concepts and infrastructure, and even the recent speculative discussions have lacked a bridge to the everyday use and personal scenarios of real users, always missing the last mile.

Now, with the emergence of AI Agents, a pathway has been provided: it no longer emphasizes concepts but responds to users' real operational anxieties and energy allocation dilemmas in a "tool-based form," allowing the value logic of Web3 to be "felt" by an ordinary user for the first time.

If DeFi, NFT, and DAO are early attempts at the ideal of decentralization, then AI Agent is likely to be a one-stop interface that connects all of this into something that users "can use."

We may be entering a stage where the Web3 narrative is no longer just based on imagination, but rather the moment when it can be "put to use."