After years of rapid development, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has become an unshakable cornerstone of innovation in the crypto industry and is gradually gaining mainstream acceptance. However, the complex jargon and intricate operational processes present significant entry barriers for many people, ultimately deterring their participation.

The emergence of DeFAI — which integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology with decentralized finance (DeFi) — has opened up new possibilities for the large-scale adoption of DeFi. According to data from CoinGecko, despite the current cryptocurrency market undergoing harsh liquidation and token prices generally halving compared to mid-January levels, the total market capitalization of the DeFAI sector remains around $1.2 billion. This article will provide a brief overview of DeFAI’s definition and advantages while summarizing key sector categories and noteworthy projects worth attention at this stage.

Overview of DeFAI

DeFAI, as the name suggests, combines DeFi (Decentralized Finance) with AI (Artificial Intelligence). It allows users to perform complex DeFi operations — such as cross-chain bridging, staking, and liquidity provision — using simple natural language commands. This lowers the entry barrier for users and significantly enhances security, efficiency, and decision-making capabilities.

Here are the key advantages of DeFAI:

1) Lowering User Entry Barriers
DeFAI simplifies complex DeFi processes through abstraction technology. Users no longer need to understand technical terms like slippage, gas fees, cross-chain transactions, or liquidity pools. Instead, they can execute operations with simple natural language instructions. For example, a user can simply type: “Use 1000 USDC on Ethereum to purchase Token A on Solana.” The system will then automatically handle all necessary steps, such as cross-chain bridging, gas fee payment, and token conversion.

2) Enhancing Security
DeFAI leverages automated verification and smart contract execution to minimize risks stemming from user errors (e.g., entering an incorrect address) or malicious attacks (e.g., clipboard malware). For instance, DeFAI tools can automatically verify wallet addresses and manage technical details in the background to ensure transaction security.

3) Improving Decision-Making
DeFAI aggregates real-time data from multiple sources to provide users with valuable market insights, enabling smarter investment decisions. Some DeFAI tools can consolidate both on-chain and off-chain data — such as trading volume and social media sentiment — and alert users to unusual market fluctuations.

4) Promoting DeFi Adoption and Innovation
By simplifying the user experience and improving efficiency, DeFAI can attract more participants to the DeFi ecosystem. As the integration of DeFi and AI deepens, it is also expected to inspire new financial products and services, such as automated yield optimization and cross-chain arbitrage, injecting greater vitality into the DeFi space.

DeFAI Project Overview

DeFAI projects are still in the proof-of-concept stage, with technology and products requiring further refinement. Based on core functionalities, these projects can generally be categorized into three major types: Abstraction Layer, Automated Investment, and Market Analysis & Prediction. Below are some notable projects categorized accordingly:

Abstraction Layer

Abstraction Layer AI aims to simplify complex DeFi operations by packaging them within intuitive, user-friendly interfaces, allowing users to interact with DeFi through natural language commands. This approach is crucial for driving large-scale DeFi adoption and is currently the primary focus of most DeFAI projects. Notable abstraction layer projects include:

• Hey Anon ($ANON)

Hey Anon is an AI DeFi protocol that integrates conversational AI with multiple information streams (e.g., X, Telegram, Discord, Gitbook) to help users execute complex DeFi operations such as bridging, staking, and lending.

The platform has launched an AI agent called Gemma, which provides insights into crypto social sentiment and Total Value Locked (TVL) analytics. Additionally, the team introduced the Automate framework, enabling developers to build DeFAI applications. In early February, Hey Anon released its public beta version (v0.1), supporting protocols like Common, Wagmi, AAVE, Layer Zero, and Pyth, as well as blockchains such as Ethereum, Sonic, Base, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain.

Hey Anon was founded by Daniele Sestagalli, who also founded the Wonderland DAO, cross-chain stablecoin lending protocol Abracadabra, and Popsicle Finance.

$ANON is the core token of the Hey Anon ecosystem, with a total supply of 21 million tokens. The distribution includes 50% allocated to the ICO, 30% held by the team, and 20% reserved in the treasury. The tokens will be fully unlocked after four years. $ANON is crucial in accessing platform features and participating in ecosystem governance (e.g., proposal rights, voting). As of February 25, the circulating market cap of $ANON is approximately $86 million.

• Griffain ($GRIFFAIN)

Griffain is a Solana-based agent engine network that enables users to create and interact with AI agents through natural language. The platform supports core functions including wallet management, token issuance, trading, NFT minting, and staking. Griffain features two distinct agent types: Personal Agents for individual users, and Special Agents for specific tasks—such as Sniper Agents that automate token trading on pump.fun.

Source: griffain.com

Founded by Tony Plasencia, Griffain was initially proposed during a Solana Hackathon and gained the support of Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko. Plasencia is also the founder of Underdog Protocol and Blink.fun.

The Griffain ecosystem features three key tokens: $SOL for gas fees, $USDC for purchasing energy to interact with agents (1 energy = 1 USDC ≈ 100 messages), and $GRIFFAIN which allows holders to unlock premium features. $GRIFFAIN has a maximum initial supply of 1 billion tokens, issued on Solana. Its current circulating market cap is approximately $52 million.

• Orbit ($GRIFT)

Orbit is a comprehensive DeFi platform that allows users to interact with DeFi services using simple instructions. It supports functions such as swapping, bridging, staking, yield optimization, and lending. Orbit has successfully integrated with 100+ blockchains and thousands of DeFi protocols, ensuring seamless cross-chain compatibility.

$GRIFT has a total supply of 1 billion tokens, with 88% currently in circulation. The remaining 12% is allocated to liquidity pools, the treasury, community, team, and investors, with full unlocking scheduled within 12 months. The current circulating market cap of $GRIFT is approximately $13.15 million.

Holders of $GRIFT enjoy exclusive benefits such as access to premium features, community events, and product upgrades. Additionally, the team allocates 30–50% of net revenue to repurchasing $GRIFT tokens from the open market for redistribution to holders.

• Neur ($NEUR)

Neur is an open-source AI full-stack application designed for the Solana blockchain. Its smart interface enables users to create customized AI agents and automate on-chain operations, facilitating seamless interactions with DeFi protocols, NFTs, and other on-chain services.

$NEUR has a maximum initial supply of 1 billion tokens, with 90% already in circulation, 7% permanently burned, and the remaining 3% reserved for community rewards and open-source contributions, set to be unlocked within 12 months. The current circulating market cap of $NEUR is approximately $4.71 million.

• Slate

Slate is a universal AI agent and agent-connector infrastructure layer that automates on-chain actions via natural language commands. To ensure fund security, Slate uses Privy’s embedded wallet architecture, which splits the private key into three separate shares (device share, authentication share, and recovery share) that are recombined during transaction execution. Slate currently supports over 50 protocols, including Eigenlayer, Jumper, Lido, and Pendle, as well as over 10 blockchains, such as Arbitrum, Base, Mode, and Ethereum. Notably, Slate exclusively supports the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

Source: slate.ceo

Slate has also introduced several social platform information-processing agents, such as the Slate IPA, which helps users monitor specific mentions (e.g., token symbols, contract addresses, or links) in selected Telegram groups and sends timely alerts. Currently, Slate has not issued a token yet, and users must apply for access.

2) Automated Investment

Compared to traditional trading bots, which rely on predefined behaviors and static logic set by their creators, autonomous AI trading agents can continuously learn and adapt in dynamic environments, making more informed decisions. Several teams are actively exploring this promising field.

• Almanak

Almanak is an AI agent-centric platform that enables users to build, train, and manage advanced financial strategies using institution-grade agents, ultimately driving higher returns.

Almanak offers strategy infrastructure tools such as market monitoring tools, development frameworks, and agent infrastructure to help users manage the full lifecycle of their strategies — from ideation and creation to optimization and execution. The platform leverages user feedback, thousands of simulations, and real-time conditions to make automated adjustments that better align with users’ financial goals. Currently in its Early Access phase, users must apply to gain platform access.

Almanak is backed by prominent investors, including Hashkey Capital, Matrix Partners, and Sparkle Ventures. While the platform has yet to release a token, its whitepaper outlines a token model inspired by Bittensor and Curve Finance. The proposed core token, $Almanak, will serve as the primary incentive and governance token, with key ecosystem participants such as strategy contributors, agent managers, and liquidity providers forming the core user base.

• Cod3x ($CDX)

Cod3x (formerly known as Moon) is a fully managed AI agent creation platform that enables users to build personalized AI agents for discovering, constructing, and automating on-chain financial strategies — all without any coding skills. Founded in 2020, Cod3x has since delivered several products, including a cloud hardware wallet, SDK components, and the Agentic Interface. To date, over 400,000 agents have been deployed on the platform.

The platform’s flagship AI agent, Big Tony (@BigTonyXBT), actively manages a wallet holding approximately $30,000 in assets. This agent leverages machine learning price prediction models powered by the Allora Network to conduct autonomous trading.

$CDX has a total supply of 100 million tokens and supports multiple chains, including Base, Solana, and Sophon. Its current circulating market cap is approximately $8.7 million. Users can stake their $CDX tokens directly on the Cod3x platform, with an estimated APR of 24.75%. As the platform’s core utility token, $CDX grants holders access to platform features, unlocks advanced tools, and allows participation in ecosystem governance.

• Mode ($MODE)

Mode is an Optimism-based Layer 2 (L2) blockchain that integrates over 50 DeFi applications with a total on-chain value exceeding $500 million. Additionally, Mode is an AI Agent marketplace focused on on-chain economics, enabling users to deploy automated agents for on-chain transactions, including MEV searching, arbitrage, and smart contract auditing to optimize yields and liquidity. As of February 26, Mode has integrated over 7,800 agents managing approximately $336,000 in assets, including flagship agents like ARMA, developed by Giza, which focuses on optimizing USDC yields.

Source: app.mode.network

Mode is building a DeFAI stack with core components including:

• Interface Layer: Enables users to execute DeFi operations and deploy contracts through applications and agents on the Mode AI Terminal
• Data Layer: Mode leverages Bittensor to innovatively develop the Synth tool, providing agents with probabilistic reasoning capabilities and accurate synthetic data
• Infrastructure Layer: Through AI-driven sequencers and super-chain interoperability, Mode L2 aims to provide users with a more secure and cost-effective operational experience.

$MODE has a total supply of 10 billion tokens, with a current circulating supply of 2.5 billion and a market cap of approximately $15.8 million. The token distribution includes 35% for community airdrops, 19% for investors, 19% for core contributors, and 27% for the foundation and treasury. Full token circulation will be completed by 2027. $MODE holders can stake their tokens for additional benefits, such as earning $OP tokens and increased voting rights.

3) Market Analysis and Prediction

By aggregating multi-dimensional data sources — such as social media platforms, crypto community forums, and on-chain data — these projects provide users with comprehensive, real-time, and accurate data analysis and market insights, enabling a deeper understanding of market trends and potential opportunities.

• aixbt by Virtuals ($AIXBT)

AIXBT is an agent developed on the Virtuals Protocol, designed as a real-time market intelligence platform. It aggregates data from multiple sources and over 400+ Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to capture market sentiment, providing users with real-time insights into market changes. AIXBT operates its own dedicated X account, which automatically responds to user inquiries, offering instant analysis and token price predictions. Users holding more than 600,000 $AIXBT tokens gain direct access to the AIXBT Terminal for advanced insights.

Recently, AIXBT introduced a tiered system where access levels and features are initially determined by the amount of tokens held. Higher tiers provide more privileges and functionalities. Future updates will expand the system to include agent partnerships and reputation-based ranking systems. $AIXBT has a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens and employs a deflationary mechanism. Currently, $AIXBT is available on the Solana and Base networks, with a circulating market cap of approximately $170 million.

• Cookie DAO ($COOKIE)

Cookie DAO aims to become the index and data layer for all AI agents and DeFAI projects. The team has developed the cookie.fun platform, which leverages the Cookie Data Swarm API to provide users with crypto-related on-chain data, market trends, and social insights. The Cookie Data Swarm API is a modular infrastructure capable of processing terabytes of data and is designed to support diverse agent integrations, such as trading agents, community agents, and research agents.

Source: cookie.fun

Currently, cookie.fun has integrated frameworks such as Virtuals, VVAIFU, and Top Hat, enabling real-time tracking of over 1,500 AI agents. According to the team, the platform currently attracts over 25,000 unique users daily.

Additionally, the team launched the @agentcookiefun market analysis agent, which utilizes 7% of the Cookie Data Swarm to autonomously post and respond to token data trends and market insights. The platform’s v1.0 release is expected in Q1, allowing users to create custom data clusters based on keywords or specific areas of interest.

$COOKIE has a maximum initial supply of 1 billion tokens, with a current circulating market cap of approximately $65 million. Holding $COOKIE tokens allows users to unlock premium platform features, participate in staking, and engage in ecosystem governance.

Outlook and Challenges

DeFAI is demonstrating immense potential to reshape the financial industry. However, as an emerging sector still in its early stages, DeFAI faces several challenges, including:

• Technical Complexity: Integrating AI and blockchain technologies increases development difficulty, including compatibility issues in technical architecture, cross-chain interoperability, and balancing centralized computing power with decentralized characteristics.
• Data Privacy and Security: On one hand, the “black box” nature of AI models may heighten concerns about transparency and security, particularly in asset management scenarios. On the other hand, training and applying AI models involves large volumes of user data, posing significant challenges in ensuring data privacy.
• Regulatory Uncertainty: Both DeFi and AI face regulatory challenges, and their combination further complicates the regulatory landscape.
• Sustainability of Tokenomic Models: Many DeFAI projects rely on token incentives to attract users and boost liquidity. Project teams must continuously enhance token use cases and utility to maintain long-term appeal.

Conclusion

In the trillion-dollar DeFi market, DeFAI remains in its early development stage yet holds substantial growth potential. By seamlessly integrating AI technology with the DeFi ecosystem, DeFAI is expected to significantly reduce entry barriers, offering users a safer, more efficient, and smarter financial experience.

However, as DeFAI is still an emerging field, the vast majority of projects in the market require time to refine their products, technology, and ecosystems. During this rapid development phase, users, investors, and industry participants should approach this innovative sector with patience, rationality, and a long-term perspective.