Crypto Trader Makes $21 Million From AI Agent Token As Sectors Faces Backlash

Rubmar Garcia

Last Updated: January 7, 2025 4:30 am

3 mins read

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Some crypto traders have made millions of dollars from the latest leading narrative, Artificial Intelligence (AI) related tokens. However, the sector’s quick rise in popularity has received backlash from several community members and industry figures, who consider the tokens “worse” than the memecoin trend.

Crypto Traders Make Millions From AI-Related Tokens

On January 6, on-chain data analysis firm Lookonchain shared that a smart Solana trader obtained massive returns from AI agent and memecoin ai16z (AI16Z). The investor turned $2 million into $21 million in less than two months amid the AI-related tokens rally.

The AI-managed crypto fund is on the Solana blockchain and governed by the ai16zDAO. Its name is a wordplay originating from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, seemingly created to bring attention to the project.

According to the post, the whale purchased 10.6 million ai16z, worth $2.27 million, between November 15 and November 22, 2024, at an average cost of $0.214. Since then, the cryptocurrency has seen a 965% surge to trade around $2.28.

At the time of the report, the investor’s holdings were valued at around $21 million, making $19 million in unrealized profits. Earlier today, the whale sent 5.3 million ai16z, worth $10.68 million, into Jupiter to sell via limit order.

Meanwhile, another trader turned $123,000 into $4.5 million after betting on ai16z when the token’s market capitalization was $22 million. The whale purchased 6.17 million ai16z and sold 4.67 million for around $1.78 million last month.

The investor currently holds 2.65 million ai16z tokens, valued at $2.9 million, bringing the total profits to more than $4.5 million in two months. This whale also made another $13.4 million from other AI crypto tokens like GOAT, FARTCOIN, and ARC.

Community Calls AI Agent Tokens ‘Overrated’

In late 2024, AI Agent tokens gained massive popularity among crypto investors, with several experts predicting that AI-related tokens, alongside memecoins, would be the largest narrative of this year. Meanwhile, AI memecoins stole the spotlight as the year ended, sending some of the tokens in the sector to the top 10 memecoins ranks in late December.

Ai16z, the largest AI memecoin by market capitalization, has seen a 251% increase in the past month, hitting an all-time high (ATH) of $2.47 on January 2. The token is also the third-largest AI agent crypto and has seen a 25% surge in the last 24 hours, trading between $2.25 and $2.28 throughout Monday morning.

Nonetheless, the sector has received heavy criticism recently from the crypto community. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT recently called AI agent tokens a scam. Responding to Justin Taylor, another industry member, the crypto detective stated that “99% of it is a scam” and suggested that “the AI agent wrapper grifts are probably worse than other past trends.”

Zach argued that memecoins “at least” promised nothing, “AI coins try to larp as much as possible to appear legit to unsuspecting buyers.” Similarly, Solana founders consider AI agent tokens to be overhyped. According to an anonymous poll of 42 Solana founders, several of the polled considered AI Agents, alongside Blinks, to be the “most overrated Solana sector.”

Despite the criticism, the sector still registers a 5% increase in the last 24 hours, with a daily trading volume of $2.28 billion and a market capitalization of $17.5 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

crypto, ai16z, ai16zUSDT — Ai16z’s performance in the one-week chart. Source: AI16ZUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Rubmar Garcia

Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.

From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.

In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.

At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.

After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.

Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.

In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.

She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.

In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.

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