Author: David Source: It is just a "Reply Brother" on Twitter, but also a new type of virtual idol and Internet celebrity driven by blockchain. Not only can they open up diverse use cases on the chain, they may also reshape the way social status is formed and displayed, leading to a new social paradigm.

In this article, I will explore how AI agents can marketize social status, laying the foundation for a new type of "Social-Fi" system, and gradually Become a new type of influencer.

But before we dive into AI agents, let’s first understand how social status works in society and how it evolves in social platforms.

Status as a Service

"Human beings are essentially status-seeking monkeys." - Eugene Wei, "Status as a Service"

Eugene Wei's "Status as a Service" is one of my favorite articles. It provides insights into how social status is formed and how social platforms use this mechanism to drive their own growth. The article begins with a simple but profound point:

"Human beings are status-seeking monkeys."

;">In the long history of mankind, our pursuit of status has been deeply ingrained in our DNA and cultural genes. In the past, people's social status was reflected in their clothing, shelter or transportation. But the Internet has completely changed this landscape, providing people with unlimited ways to demonstrate their status to the world.

The article explains how social platforms take advantage of this human instinct: people naturally desire to establish, display and enhance their social status, and platforms do this by helping users This will drive growth.

Two important points:

1. Social status is a zero-sum game. Competition for status is exclusive. The rise in status of one person means the fall in status of others.

2. Social status can be converted into financial capital, which was once likeSymbolic status can now be quantified into actual wealth. Social platforms create status systems and convert them into realizable financial capital.

Quantifying social status: the new rules of the social era

Social platforms further advance this structure, making the expression of status more precise and widespread, and introducing quantitative standards for measurement Status value:

•How many followers do I have?

•How many likes did my post get?

•How many people are involved in my community?

This quantification not only reveals social status but also gives it actual value. Social platforms are not only tools to connect people, but also engines for users to compete, compare and realize their status.

Status has become a universal force, and it is through this status that social platforms drive user engagement, retention and monetization. Whether it’s Twitter, TikTok, or other platforms, platforms have always been driven by the human desire to express themselves, show off early membership in a community, and demonstrate a sense of belonging.

Blockchain: a new social platform

Blockchain represents a new social platform. Just as different social platforms attract different people and values, the blockchain ecosystem also brings together like-minded people to pursue goals and beliefs. For example:

Ethereum’s core values ​​→ Attract like-minded people → These people develop products → And then attract more people to join

This cycle constitutes the network effect of the blockchain. As the community grows, social interactions on the chain become more active, eventually forming a status hierarchy.

For example, the concept of "Ethereum OG (Ethereum OG)" is very typical. Being able to prove the time of one's first on-chain transaction or purchase of ETH has the same effect as early users gaining recognition in traditional social platforms.

Even for users who join later, every interaction with Ethereum - whether it is purchase, development or transaction, is a symbol of their status in the community .

ENS: BlockchainThis dynamic is most evident in the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the first “status symbol” on the Internet Example. ENS allows users to purchase .eth domain names, whose functions include:

•Proof of belonging: The .eth domain name is a direct symbol of the status of the Ethereum community.

•Early user status: Scarce or valuable domain names indicate a user's early participation in Ethereum.

The influence of these domain names goes beyond Ethereum itself. .eth domain names can also be seen as user names on platforms such as Twitter, further strengthening the block The social nature of the chain.

ENS highlights why blockchain is a new type of social platform - one that gives social status a direct monetary value.

Monetizing status: Advantages of blockchain

Traditional social platforms cannot be directly monetized status, the usual process is:

1. Build social capital through likes, fans or content

2. Indirect monetization through advertising, sponsorship or brand cooperation

This process is slow and only a few internet celebrities or content creators can benefit from it. Even if someone has a high social status, converting it into wealth is still limited by the rules and thresholds of the platform.

In contrast, blockchain allows users to realize social capital directly on the chain through asset issuance, NFT or tokenized status. This not only greatly lowers the threshold, but also makes status monetization more popular and transparent.

The ways of expressing "social status" continue to evolve to satisfy the human "I want to This process follows a recurring pattern:

1. Limited ways to gain and demonstrate social status.

2. New ways emerge, giving more people the opportunity to gain social status.

3. Even in these new ways, there will be A new form of social status, open only to a select few.

In traditional societies, social status is usually determined by the conditions possessed by the so-called elite group, and only a very small number of people can achieve this identity. Not everyone can graduate from a prestigious school, drive a luxury car or buy luxury goods.

Social platforms have broken this structure and created a new stage where anyone can establish and display social status through indicators such as the number of followers and likes. Quantifying status

However, when these indicators became monetizable, a new level of status emerged, once again only accessible to a select few.

Blockchain The emergence of has changed this situation.

By introducing a market-driven pricing mechanism into the network, blockchain enables anyone to convert their social status into monetizable value—whether through NFTs, ENS domain names, or other on-chain assets .

AI Agents: The Market Capitalization of Social Status

AI Agents introduce a new way to verify social status through the blockchain: "The Market for Social Status" Capitalization".

AI agents can implement more application scenarios, but the current structure is mainly that AI agents perform predefined tasks and mint their own tokens. However, this model goes far beyond that. Ordinary memecoins even make AI agent tokens completely different from traditional tokens:

• Traditional tokens: The market value of an L2 token reaches US$1 billion reflects the value of the token itself.

•AI agent token: @aixbt_agent has a market value of US$1 billion, which reflects not only the value of the token itself, but also the personality and social influence of the AI ​​agent

What is unique about this structure is that the price of the AI ​​agent token will fluctuate based on the influence and popularity of the AI ​​agent, which is ultimately reflected in the "market value"”.

Before AI agents, there have been similar attempts, such as the "Social/Fan Token" launched by Friend.tech. This model is designed to help the Internet

However, most such attempts have not been sustainable over the long term due to:

< p style="text-align: left;">•Token design is purely based on "utility" and mainly relies on the creator's "existing social status".

•After fans purchase tokens Obtain certain rights or benefits, but the token price often cannot truly reflect the social status of the creator

New formula for social status market capitalization

< p style="text-align: left;">AI agents are similar to social tokens in that they issue their own tokens. However, AI agents introduce a new status marketization formula, redefining the expression of social status through the concept of "market value" .

The following are the core elements for AI agents to convert social status into market value:

1 . Social status requires community background to be created

Social status is relative and only makes sense when compared within clear groups. In tradition. On social platforms, your social graph consists of followers, and indicators such as the number of fans become the standard for measuring status. To tokenize social status, individuals must belong to a specific community or category and establish their own status within it.

AI agent

AI agents are rooted in crypto culture and are active in sub-communities such as degens (speculative players) or platform-specific ecosystems (such as Virtuals)

This clear community affiliation makes comparisons between AI agents meaningful. For example, AI agents can be ranked in the Virtuals ecosystem, or the performance of AI agents can be analyzed across ecosystems such as Solana or Base. Market value. This approach makes AI agents an important carrier of “market capitalization of social status” and creates a newSocial and financial integration model.

2. Interaction only comes from the incentive mechanism

On traditional social platforms, "relatively "Sex" is the incentive mechanism, and likes and attention are manifestations of interaction. People like or follow others because this interaction creates a “relativity” of social status in the community. Having more followers than others builds relative social status within the community. This status difference encourages people to continue to create content, share opinions, and engage in interactions to further consolidate and enhance their status.

In the era of AI agents, the relative status comes from "token price or AI agent's "Market value" token price is the incentive, and trading tokens is the interaction. When an AI agent belongs to a specific community, the price fluctuations of its tokens create a relativity of social status within the community.

But unlike traditional social tokens, the interaction motivation of this system lies in its shared identity: as a token holder, you The social status of the AI ​​agent will increase as the social status of the AI ​​agent increases. In other words, the increase in the price of the AI ​​agent token will not only make you money, but also improve your social status because you hold part of the assets of this AI agent. Whether it’s because “I invested in this AI agent early” or directly making a profit, it can enhance your identity and sense of status.

The key is:

•The social status of the AI ​​agent (entity),

•And the social status of the individuals participating in this system,

The two are interrelated and promote each other.

3. The symbiotic relationship between market capitalization and social status

We can compare it to the traditional stock market:

•Stocks represent company ownership,

•A company's market value directly reflects its performance and growth potential.

A company's operations and market capitalization are interdependent. Poor performance → market capitalization decreases, which in turn harms company operations. The two are closely relatedConnected and difficult to separate.

AI agents follow a similar model. Its market capitalization reflects its social standing in the community, and as the AI ​​agent's popularity grows, so will its market capitalization. On the contrary, the increase in market value will further consolidate the reputation and influence of AI agents.

However, even if a certain AI agent remains popular, if its market value drops for no reason, it will have a negative impact on its social status.

Unlike Internet celebrity social tokens (the price of these tokens is not closely related to the status of the creator), AI agents establish a relationship between market value and social status. a direct and symbiotic relationship.

Simply put, the market value of the AI ​​agent returns to zero, and its social status disappears, just like a listed company in the stock market goes bankrupt. “Symbiotic relationships are crucial.”

4. Establish standards for AI agent market value

In traditional social systems, social status is based on widely recognized benchmarks ：

•Enter a prestigious school

•Get a high-paying position

•Own luxury brands

If you think of the stock market as a large financial community, investors usually rely on indicators such as price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), earnings per share (EPS), and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to evaluate a company's value.

Similarly, to convert an individual's social status in the community into market value, the community must establish a "standard for measuring social status."

AI Agents as Social Networks

AI agents as a new form by creating a system that can quantify, tokenize, monetize social status and express it in market capitalization of social finance, an economy driven by social impact.

Of course, AI agents do more than just represent social status or issue tokens, they can also unlock entirely new on-chain use cases. While I recognize these broader possibilities, I believe AI agents will initially flourish as social finance, attracting a wave of new users and driving widespread adoption in the crypto space.

"AI agents are virtual idols or influencers on the blockchain, able to assign a monetary value to their social status and share that value with others. ”

Currently, most well-known AI agents do not focus on providing specific on-chain features to enhance user experience. Instead, they rely on their unique roles to Establish and expand their social status in the crypto community

Using the formula mentioned earlier, the social status of the AI ​​Agent is expressed by the market capitalization of the token. By purchasing these tokens, individuals can effectively interact with the AI ​​Agent and own the AI ​​Agent Share of social status

Unlike traditional social platforms, this structure allows anyone to be assigned their social status directly or indirectly through an artificial intelligence agent. Monetary value.

Mike holds $aixbt and $Goat tokens, meaning he Take a share of the social status of two AI agents

•As the social influence and market value of these AI agents increase, Mike's social status also increases because he "makes money" in the process.

•Essentially, by holding part of the social status of the AI ​​agent through tokens, Mike's personal social status is directly reflected and improved.

Traditional social platform vs. Artificial Intelligence Agent blockchain social network< p style="text-align: left;">Human celebrities and artificial intelligence agents

Likes/follows vs. buying/trading tokens

The monetary value of exclusive groups vs. the monetary value of everyone< /p>

I believe this trend will continue to develop, with each AI agent developing its own mission and cultivating loyal fans and communities, which will form the basis of new social finance. , where blockchain serves as a social platform, AI Agents become icons or influencers of the new era and together they will drive the creation of a new financial economy based on social capital.

The key drivers of this economy will be:

Economic activities that form and consolidate the social status of artificial intelligence agents

Tokenization of social status in market capitalization

Here are some of my predictions for how the AI ​​agent social finance landscape will evolve:

1. AI agents shape and consolidate economic activities of their own social status through social interaction

2. Tokenize social status and reflect it in AI agents

1. The standards for evaluating the social status of AI agents will gradually take shape

1. p>

Currently, evaluating AI Indicators of agent social status are still fragmented, but clear unified standards are gradually taking shape.

•For example: the AI ​​agent ranking list (Yapper Leaderboard) developed by @_kaitoai. Evaluating the influence of AI agents in the crypto community through various indicators is similar to using financial data (profit, growth) to evaluate the value of a company.

As these criteria are gradually developed. Improvement will provide greater transparency and comparability, making the evaluation of AI Agents’ social status in the community becomes easier

(Incidentally, I think the framework for tokenizing AI agents’ social status is similar to Kaito’s algorithm. Combined, it is possible to tokenize the social capital of real-world influencers in the future)

2. Functional AI agents will grow into "Yappers" and be established. Your own community

Imagine a Solana validator AI agent, with a unique personality and role setting.

As its social status gradually increases, this AI agent It will become an independent existence with clear personality characteristics, and its market value will also grow accordingly, attracting more pledge delegations and the validator agent can reinvest the rewards.back into their tokens or community, further enhancing their social status, thus forming a self-reinforcing cycle of growth.

The key is: the AI ​​verifier agent can legitimately issue tokens because it breaks through the inability of human verifiers through role setting and accumulation of social status. Possess the boundary of influence.

These functional AI agents will no longer be regarded as just simple service providers, but as "role-based entities" with independent personalities and distinctive images. This will greatly enhance its appeal and create a deeper connection with the community.

3. Each AI agent framework will establish its own "society"

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The concept of "AI Agent Society" proposed by @virtuals_io is an excellent way to describe how AI agents develop in Social-Fi (social finance). Each AI agent will shape a unique personality and build a community around it, with its social status clearly quantified through market value - this is a new form of Social-Fi.

This concept will gradually expand to a larger scale, and AI agents will form networks and relationships with other agents under the same framework, eventually giving birth to an AI agent society. The future "AI agent framework war" is no longer just a competition about technical features or value propositions, but a competition between frameworks to create a society with common values ​​​​and strong network effects to attract more AI agents to join.

Imagine this: an AI agent created by a framework not only promotes itself, but also competes with agents from other frameworks.

•Here, it is no longer the founder or team that attracts the attention of the community, but the AI ​​agent itself,

•These agents will create social value and continuously strive to surpass other agents in society.

The social status and market value of the AI ​​agent will directly reflect the value of the society in which it is located, and the native token of the framework will become the universal currency of that society. Over time, you can even measure the “GDP” of a society by calculating the total value of all agents in the AI ​​agent society.

4. AIAgent Social-Fi will accelerate the development of other Social-Fi protocols and infrastructure

Currently, many Social-Fi protocols face huge difficulties in developing ecosystems due to Obvious:

•It is difficult to attract users to join the protocol and create social status based on it.

AI agents can solve this problem because they can not only become active users in the protocol, but also attract real users to join the social system they represent.

If an AI agent is created on the Lens protocol, the following situations will occur:< /p>

•These AI agents will solve the cold start problem and become an early user group of the protocol.

•As AI agents attract real users to buy and hold their tokens, the Lens protocol will gradually attract real users and form a prosperous ecosystem.

This will at least provide a basic user base for Social-Fi protocols, validate their value proposition and differentiation advantages, and help them distinguish themselves from traditional social platforms. AI agents not only solve problems but also bring more diversity to thriving protocols and platforms such as:

• Platforms like @fantasy_top_ or @jokerace_io , AI agents will serve as unique individuals to accelerate the development of platform activities.

•Fantasy Top has listed the "Truth of Terminal" AI agent, proving that the AI ​​agent is actually participating.

Infrastructure required for AI agent ecology

In order to promote Social with AI agent as the core -For the Fi ecosystem to thrive, a series of prerequisites need to be met, and critical infrastructure will determine growth and scalability.

Core elements include:

1. Autonomy: Can the AI ​​agent operate independently, and how much autonomy does it have?

2. Verifiability: The agent’s trustworthiness How to ensure safety and security?

3. Sustainability: Can the ecosystem expand without running out of resources?

4. Accessibility: Can ordinary users easily build and deploy AI agents?

Teams like Hyperbolic and Capx are developing robust infrastructure to ensure AI agents are verifiable and accessible

Fundamentals. Facilities teams can even create their own AI agents:

• Demonstrate practical use cases for the product

•As the "face" of the company, enhance brand image

Players that occupy a leading position in these prerequisite segments are likely to expand their influence horizontally and gradually grow into a comprehensive AI agent infrastructure platform.

This is similar to RaaS (Rollup-as-a-Service), which initially provides basic functions to start Rollup, and eventually expands the business domain horizontally through its pipeline.

AI agents are not a fantasy, they can open up New opportunities untouched by mankind

I want to clarify that I am not claiming that "AI agents will reshape society and represent the future."

My point is: AI agents Have the potential to unlock untapped opportunities for humanity, especially in terms of monetizing social status. They could become an important engine for new users in the crypto market, similar to what we saw with the NFT/Metaverse craze.< /p>

Although this trend may eventually cool down as the cycle ends, like NFTs, like the Metaverse, are entering a bubble stage, but even so, they can still create new opportunities and lead more people to participate in and explore the crypto field.

On the other hand. , this could also be a disruptive moment: by lettingAI agents maximize human productivity and drive innovation and change in the $17 trillion service industry.

But one thing is clear: "Humans are animals who pursue social status, and so are AI agents."

This shared pursuit of status may become a powerful trigger to help people understand and apply the actual value of AI agents through new Social-Fi structures.