Will VIRTUAL Price Cross $3 Again, or Is the AI Agent Hype Fading?

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Olga Primakova

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Olga Primakova

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Olga started writing about cryptocurrency and finance in 2021.

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

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Last updated: 

December 23, 2024

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Key Takeaways:

• Virtuals Protocol skyrocketed 6252% since October, hitting $3.24, but activity on the platform is falling.
• AI agents sparked Virtuals Protocol’s rise, yet their launches dropped 94% in December.
• The AI-driven hype around Virtuals Protocol may wane, but emerging projects like GAME show promising growth.

The price of Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) increased from $1.28 to $3.24 in December, marking a 153% growth. The key question remains: will this momentum continue, or is it merely temporary hype?

VIRTUAL’s price growth began in October, with the token surging nearly 900% in just one month. On Oct. 1, it was priced at $0.051, rising to $0.50 by Oct. 28, CoinGecko data says.

During this period, the price of VIRTUAL increased by 880%. Growth continued in November, with the token jumping by nearly 50% in a single day on Nov. 29.

In November, centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Bitget, Bybit, and Gate.io listed VIRTUAL for spot trading. However, Binance has yet to announce its listing.

On Dec. 16, Virtual Protocol hit its all-time high (ATH) of $3.30, cementing its place among the most talked-about projects in the market. The hype is largely tied to its connection to one of this year’s trending crypto narratives – artificial intelligence (AI) agents.

Virtuals Protocol: A Phenomenon Similar to Pump.Fun for Meme Coins

In simple terms, AI agents are designed to address specific problems. These agents are autonomous, adaptable to their environment, and capable of reading and writing code, making them more versatile than many existing AI projects in the crypto market.

By comparison, established AI-focused crypto projects like NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Render (RENDER), and Bittensor (TAO) still require significant time to develop. While these projects show promise, none currently offer a fully functional product for users.

This gap has even sparked memes, such as jokes about how no one truly understands how Bittensor works.

This usability gap may explain the rapid rise in popularity of AI agents, with Virtuals Protocol becoming a focal point of attention.

The market capitalization of Virtuals Protocol has grown, positioning VIRTUAL in 6th place among AI coins with a market cap of $2.6 billion.

Virtuals Protocol serves as a launchpad for AI agents, built on the Base. Its operating model draws parallels to Pump.Fun and the broader meme coin culture. Users can launch AI agents, enabling others to invest in and interact with them.

The more active and engaged an agent’s community is, the greater the likelihood of its value increasing.

According to Virtuals Protocol, the largest AI agents by market capitalization on the platform include Game by Virtual (GAME), Luna (LUNA), Prefrontal Cortex Convo Agent (CONVO), aixbt (AIXBT), and Iona (IONA).

Among these, LUNA and AIXBT are considered the most popular.

The VIRTUAL token plays a central role in the platform’s ecosystem. It is used to add AI agents to liquidity pools after minting and for additional fees when interacting with agents. For example, launching an AI agent requires users to block 2,400 VIRTUAL tokens.

Virtuals Protocol supports AI agents capable of working with text, video, and audio, making them well-suited for entertainment and content creation.

One of the standout projects within the Virtuals Protocol ecosystem is AiDOL, a group of AI influencers that includes Luna (the most popular AI agent and second by market capitalization), Iona, and Olyn.

AiDOL is particularly known for its TikTok streams, boasting 672,100 subscribers and nearly 10 million likes.

VIRTUAL Price Soars 150%, But AI Agent Launches Plunge 94%

While the VIRTUAL token continues to be one of the most talked-about assets in the crypto market, the protocol’s data tells a different story, according to Dune Analytics.

The number of AI agents launched on the platform has dropped significantly. On Nov. 30, there were 1,181 new AI agents, but by Dec. 22, this number had fallen to just 48, marking a 94.4% decrease throughout the month.

As of Dec. 23, the total number of AI agents created on the platform stood at 11,538.

Additionally, trading volume for VIRTUAL has seen a decline. On Nov. 29, when the token hit its ATH, the trading volume peaked at $195.6 million, with decentralized exchanges (DEX) seeing a surge to $259 million.

However, by Dec. 22, trading volume had fallen to $24.6 million, with DEX trading volume at $59.8 million, suggesting that traders are increasingly opting for DEXs over centralized exchanges for VIRTUAL transactions.

This shift could be due to the fact that many of the AI agents from Virtuals Protocol are not yet listed on CEXs.

What’s Next for VIRTUAL?

Virtual Protocol, which launched in October 2024, quickly captured attention, with its token price soaring from $0.051 to an all-time high of $3.24 – an 6252% increase.

The price trajectory shows continued growth in November, reaching a new ATH in December before a slight correction to around $2.60. Despite this, data from the platform reveals a drop in activity, with fewer AI agents launched in December compared to the previous month.

This decline could be attributed to the nature of these AI agents, which are more entertainment-focused. Much like meme coins, their value surges due to hype, but it tends to deflate just as quickly.

However, while some agents fade, new ones are still emerging. A notable example is GAME, the largest token by market capitalization on the platform, which has seen its price increase by 84% over the past week, according to CoinGecko.

The future success of Virtuals Protocol could depend on how well AI agents are developed and used in different areas, providing real value to keep growing and attracting more users.