In the fall, amidst the third wave of growth for AI-related assets this year, a new trend emerged in the segment—meme coins inspired by artificial intelligence. Many of these coins saw their value increase exponentially in a short period.
What’s the Interest?
If we consider Bitcoin was conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto as the first technological meme coin, then current AI-linked tokens can be seen as an evolution of that idea. They are bold, innovative, and create new subcultures based on specific values; some are useful, and almost all provoke outrage among traditional finance representatives. The crypto world is aware of Satoshi's desire to revolutionize the financial system: enhancing security and decentralization while adding a touch of anonymity and "magic" from a deflationary economic model. If digital gold turns out to be a brilliant scam and its creator sells all his coins, it likely won't change perceptions of cryptocurrencies. It's more about habits and accepting new paradigms.
Five to seven years ago, many current Bitcoin enthusiasts viewed it as a joke or a pyramid scheme. "Money out of thin air" is what the first cryptocurrency has supposedly taught users for over 15 years. The challenge for pioneers was to make it clear why Bitcoin needed a consensus mechanism — PoW and what value this algorithm holds. Later, we witnessed "crypto rallies" with the first surge of new tokens, life-changing airdrops, NFTs with primitive art valued at millions per piece, and finally, meme coins.
Some crypto market participants in 2024 opted for simplification with bets on Polymarket and "tapalke" like Hamster Kombat. However, looking at the broader picture, all these trends including meme coins are based on collective preferences. The blockchain industry has expanded significantly, allowing users to choose how they engage.
In September 2024, crypto analyst Murad Mahmudov stated that the crypto industry is essentially a token production industry masquerading as software development. According to him, most users and investors are not interested in technology; they come "to make money (70%), have fun (20%), and feel part of something (10%)." He also believes that meme coins could evolve into forms of "cults" and communities focused on organic development and fair token distribution.
In April 2024, contrary opinions were expressed by a16z Crypto CTO Eddie Lazarin, who noted that memes are not very interesting from a technical perspective in light of potential developer outflows from the industry. Interestingly, later on, with the emergence of AI agency systems, this fund inspired creators of the largest AI meme by market cap — ai16z. It was Eddie Lazarin who triggered a ~50% rise in token value on November 18 when he responded to an AI agent trying to contact him on social media X.
With this new class of assets, meme coins gained much-needed technological substance, attracted investments, and ultimately became an essential part of the concept linking blockchain with artificial intelligence.
What’s the Value?
Beyond their strong emotional and social components—such as creating diverse subcultural communities and forming charitable foundations—meme tokens are appealing from an investment standpoint.
According to Binance analysts, for most such assets, market capitalization equals their FDV. This indicates that their creators unlock and release all coins into circulation immediately without anticipating further issuance or dilution of token value.
As of January 17, 2025, the market capitalization of meme coins on CoinGecko stands at approximately $121 billion; around 8% is attributed to new AI memes. Most tokens in the top ten were created less than two months ago and continue to grow actively with characteristic volatility.
The explosive growth of AI-related meme coins began in October 2024 when an anonymous developer launched the meme token Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) on Pump.fun. The AI agent Terminal of Truths publicly supported the project, leading to a sharp price increase. Within two weeks, GOAT's market cap exceeded $950 million. The token's creator sent 1.93 million coins to ToT's wallet, making this AI agent the first millionaire among autonomous assistants.
As of January 17, 2025, GOAT's price is correcting at around ~$0.36 from its peak at $1.21.
Thanks to GOAT's success, interest in AI agents has surged significantly. Since then, numerous protocols related to them have been launched. Following Franklin Templeton's report published on January 14, 2025, AI tokens showed strong growth amid Bitcoin's return to $100,000 levels. The report predicted a "revolution" in content creation involving agents based on artificial intelligence.
Such projects typically consist of a website, token, and an autonomous AI account on X. The largest by market capitalization at the time of writing is ai16z. Despite its name, this project isn't directly linked to the a16z fund; however, co-founder Marc Andreessen had previously mentioned the token which sparked increased popularity.
The project is positioned as a DAO governed by an AI agent named Eliza capable of "reading links, PDF files, audio and video materials," retaining conversations for easy reference.
Zerebro is one of the most viral AI agents creating music popular on streaming platforms.
On December 21st, Zerebro's founder announced launching ZerePy — a service for agency systems based on Python. Version v1 simplifies deploying personalized AI and supporting users who can publish content on social platforms. Future updates will focus on expanding capabilities and integrating more platforms while ensuring blockchain operations. The team developed an online deployment solution based on Replit where users can directly launch AI via their browser using API keys for X platform models like OpenAI or Claude alongside creating and configuring their AIs.
Aixbt is an autonomous assistant launched on Virtuals Protocol within Base network that performs fundamental analysis on cryptocurrencies. As of writing time, AIXBT's token shows significant growth being third in capitalization; it gained over 100% in value over one week and around 300% over thirty days.
Another project excelling in technical analysis is kwantxbt released on Top Hat launchpad within Solana network.
Simply inputting an address or ticker for your desired token into a Telegram channel allows an AI agent to provide entry points into positions and predict near-term price movements within five seconds or less; initially offered free during early stages with KWANT token having ~$16 million market cap.
Among the top ten meme coins stand two veteran projects launched back in 2023—Turbo and CorgiAI—who have managed to remain relevant amidst newer progressive agency systems.
Turbo (TURBO) is particularly noteworthy as it claims to be the first completely AI-generated token; created in April 2023 using GPT-4 with an investment of $69 its market cap reached ~$930 million by December 19th, 2024.
According to CoinGecko data showing an abundance of new projects within launchpad subsector for launching AI agents; VIRTUAL token from Virtuals Protocol leads with ~$3.8 billion market cap while ARC and MAX tokens recorded impressive growth rates over thirty days.
Ava AI with AVA token demonstrated over 1000% performance being recognized as the first AI artist launched on generative storytelling platform Holoworld aiming at uniting brands with content creators through innovative marketing utilizing artificial intelligence; Holoworld reports over one million registered clients generating around 700k works created.
The most peculiar yet popular meme coin within AI sector is Fartcoin—a project embodying freedom of speech in exaggerated form emphasizing values intrinsic to modern blockchain industry likely fueled by its creation via Terminal of Truths agent; currently ranking second among AI memes with ~$1.25 billion market cap.
Another catalyst driving rapid price increases among AI tokens was Binance Alpha platform launched in December where from December 18-20 five tokens were added daily allowing exchange clients insight into details before purchasing them quickly; most assets presented were tied closely with AI memes prompting another surge within segment.
In early January Binance Futures listed its first batch after selection via Alpha protocol including GRIFFAINUSDT, AI16ZUSDT, ZEREBROUSDT joining perpetual contracts at centralized exchange.
Conclusions
The emergence of meme coins linked to AI once again showcases collaborative potentials between blockchain industry and artificial intelligence; this synergy has imparted much-needed technological innovation opening pathways across various domains including art media trading entertainment while providing lighthearted yet often humorous engagement promoting greater visibility across entire sector while creating opportunities for self-expression.
These tokens allow individuals minimal investment opportunities enabling rapid wealth accumulation or equally swift losses; their social cultural impacts may resonate later but presently they facilitate spreading crypto ideas globally altering public perceptions regarding what money can be.
