Antony Parsons
The intersection of crypto and AI is expected to be a major theme in 2025, with Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, predicting that AI agents will be the main narrative in the crypto community. However, Qureshi notes that current AI agents are not truly autonomous, but rather chatbots with memecoins attached, and are mostly controlled by humans behind the scenes.
The Rise and Fall of AI Agents
Qureshi believes that the current trend of AI agents will continue throughout 2025, but will eventually die off. These agents will replace some influencers, as they can provide 24/7 coverage and are less greedy than human influencers. However, as the novelty wears off, people will start to prefer human-created content over AI-generated content.
By 2026, Qureshi predicts that the market will become saturated with AI agents, leading to a reversal in sentiment. People will start to favor human-created content, and AI agents will try to hide their true nature to capture more attention. This will lead to a wave of AI-unmasking scandals and accusations of human influencers being chatbots.
The Dark Side of AI Agents
Qureshi also warns of the darker side of AI agents, as they can be used for scams and other malicious activities. Autonomous scambots will proliferate, and it will become a significant social problem.
The Real Impact of AI on Crypto
While AI agents will continue to be the center of attention in 2025, Qureshi believes that the long-term disruption from AI will not be at the social layer, but rather in software engineering. AI-powered software engineering agents will revolutionize the industry by reducing the cost of software development, making it possible to launch applications with $10,000 of AI cloud compute.
This will lead to an explosion of applications and experimentation on-chain, and self-financed projects like Hyperliquid and Jupiter will become the norm. The implications of this on security are profound, as AI-powered static analysis and monitoring will become ubiquitous, making security more accessible to everyone.
Crypto’s Impact on AI
Crypto will also have an impact on AI, as truly autonomous agents will use crypto to pay each other. With permissive stablecoin regulations, large companies will start using stablecoins for agent-to-agent payments. Decentralized training and inference will also become more prominent, with projects like Exolabs, NousResearch, and PrimeIntel paving the way for real alternatives to centralized training and company-owned models.
Conclusion
The intersection of crypto and AI is a rapidly evolving space, with both technologies having a significant impact on each other. While AI agents will continue to be a major theme in 2025, the real disruption will come from AI-powered software engineering agents. As the industry continues to evolve, it’s essential to stay informed and adapt to the changing landscape.
