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Crypto entrepreneurs are known for reshaping industries to match their vision of decentralization. Now, they’re applying the same approach to one of the most powerful technologies of our time: artificial intelligence (AI). Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) is one such project, emerging from the fusion of AI and crypto technology. Expectations are high, with investors driving the fledgling project’s valuation past the $1 billion mark in less than a year from the launch of its platform.
What is Virtuals Protocol? What makes Virtuals Protocol unique? We answer all these questions and more in our Virtuals Protocol crypto review, where we break down its features, use cases, and tokenomics.
Virtuals Protocol’s meteoric rise has been nothing short of spectacular, perfectly capturing the zeitgeist of the tech world in 2024—a year defined by the rise and hype of AI. The project aims to create an ecosystem where anyone can build AI agents that users can use and co-own by purchasing tokens associated with AI agents. If everything goes to plan, Virtuals could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. Of course, we will still have to monitor the quality of AI agents that Virtuals can attract, the integration of its services across the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, and the sustainability of VIRTUAL’s tokenomics. We’re thrilled by the Virtuals Protocol’s push for true decentralization and permissionless innovation. Imagine a world where anyone can own a piece of ChatGPT and influence its future through decentralized token voting.Our Take on Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL)
What is VIRTUAL Crypto: Summary
In this article, we will explain in simple words how the Virtuals Protocol works. But first, we will quickly go through technical terms such as “AI agents” and “tokenization,” which you will come across frequently in the article. Following this, we will talk about the Virtuals Protocol project, its history, and creators in detail.
In the second half of this article, we’ll take a closer look at the VIRTUAL token, exploring its utility, tokenomics, market performance, and on-chain health. We’ll also break down Virtuals’ key features, weigh the pros and cons, and highlight the top AI agents on the platform.
Key Takeaways
- Virtuals Protocol is an AI agent launchpad that allows developers to easily bootstrap their project with the help of crypto tokens.
- Its native token, VIRTUAL, is at the heart of the platform. It is used for agent creation, liquidity pools, and token swaps.
- Decentralized governance of AI agents is set to be implemented on Virtuals soon.
- The VIRTUAL token hit a record high valuation of over $4.5 billion in January 2025.
- Virtuals Protocol is built on top of the Base and Solana blockchain.
Terms You Need to Know Before Understanding $VIRTUAL
- AI agent: A software program that uses artificial intelligence to perform tasks, make decisions, or interact with other systems on behalf of a user. To know more about it, read our ‘AI Agents in Crypto‘ guide.
- Tokenization: It means turning real-world assets or ownership rights into digital tokens on a blockchain, making them easier to buy, sell, and trade online.
- Blockchain: A decentralized digital ledger that records transactions and account balances without relying on a centralized authority. To know more about it, read our dedicated guide on ‘What is Blockchain‘
- Base: It is a layer-2 blockchain built by Coinbase on top of Ethereum. To know more about it, read our Base review.
- Smart contract: Self-executing program on the blockchain containing instructions to execute actions autonomously when predefined conditions are met. Get to know more about it in our ‘What are smart contracts‘ explainer.
- Bonding curve: A mathematical curve that determines token pricing based on supply and demand, often used in token sales and to regulate liquidity.
- Liquidity pool: A pool of tokens locked in a smart contract that allows users to trade assets in a decentralized manner.
- Liquidity Providers: People who add tokens to a pool on a crypto platform, allowing others to trade and earning a share of the trading fees in return.
- LP Tokens: These are special tokens given to liquidity providers as proof of their share in a liquidity pool. They represent the amount of crypto a provider has contributed
Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) Review 2025
Virtuals Protocol is an AI agent launchpad platform built on top of the Base and Solana blockchain. The platform allows developers to launch AI agents in a permissionless manner. Crypto tokens represent the ownership of AI agents built on the Virtuals platform. For example, an AI agent called ChatGPT will be represented by $CHATGPT tokens, which anyone can buy in the open market to acquire a stake in the AI agent, use its services, and participate in governance activity. Virtuals uses blockchain technology to track token balances and facilitate transactions.
Put simply, Virtuals Protocol offers the technological infrastructure for developers to launch autonomous AI programs and applications easily. From the developer’s perspective, this approach simplifies fundraising (via AI agent token sales), the distribution and marketing of their AI agents. Meanwhile, users and investors view Virtuals as a library of AI models they can select, use, and co-own.
In addition to its primary use case as an AI agent creation platform, Virtuals offers two other services. They are:
- Agent Commerce Protocol (ACP): ACP is an open, standardized protocol that allows AI agents to interact, coordinate, and transact with each other and with humans. Virtuals believes that clear standards will enable reliable and efficient communication between agents. At the same time, specialized “evaluator agents” will oversee transactions, ensuring that all agreements are correctly fulfilled.
- GAME Framework: Generative Autonomous Multimodal Entities (GAME) is a platform that allows AI agents to act and interact in virtual worlds and environments. According to Virtuals, GAME creates AI agents that are environment- and game-agnostic. Imagine AI agents that can interact with metaverse and blockchain or P2E games such as Roblox, Decentraland ($MANA), and Sandbox ($SAND).
History of VIRTUAL Coin
Virtuals Protocol was formerly known as Path DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization focused on blockchain gaming and metaverse. PathDAO was established in 2021. Its governance token was PATH, which launched via an initial DEX offering (IDO) in December 2021. That same month, PathDAO raised an undisclosed amount in a seed investment round from DeFiance Capital, Merit Circle, LVT Capital, Stakez Capital, Master Ventures, and NewTribe Capital.
In December 2023, PathDAO announced that tokenholders had approved a proposal to buy back PATH tokens ahead of the launch of a new token called VIRTUALS. Tokenholders who chose not to sell their PATH tokens were airdropped VIRTUALS tokens on the Ethereum blockchain on 23 December 2023.
In early 2024, PathDAO completed its rebrand to Virtuals Protocol as the project unveiled its new logo and launched a new website and social media channels. In June 2024, Virtuals Protocol published a blog outlining their plans to create an AI agent library for the entertainment and gaming industry.
Interestingly, in October 2024, Virtuals launched an AI agent creation platform. The following month, Virtuals Protocol surpassed a $1 billion market capitalization, establishing itself as the hottest AI blockchain project in the market. In the first week of 2025, VIRTUALS token surged to an all-time high price, taking the project’s valuation to over $4.5 billion. It capped off January 2025 by completing its expansion to the Solana blockchain.
Who Created Virtuals Protocol Crypto Project?
Jansen Teng and Wee Kee are the co-founders of Virtuals Protocol. From 2018 to 2021, they worked together at Boston Consulting Group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to their LinkedIn profiles, the duo studied biotechnology at Imperial College, London. Teng and Kee co-founded a home-finding platform called Aidaro before their venture with PathDAO and Virtuals Protocol.
Vision of VIRTUAL Crypto Project
Virtuals Protocol was initially created to steer AI innovation toward the entertainment and gaming industries. In a blog post titled “Why We Build Virtuals Protocol,” the project argued that the $100 billion entertainment sector was “massively overlooked by builders and capital allocators.” To address this, Virtuals Protocol launched a platform designed to attract AI developers to build solutions for blockchain-based gaming, experiences, and entertainment.
Today, Virtuals’ AI agents are expanding beyond entertainment into research, asset management, decentralized finance, and various applications. The platform is shaping a future where AI agents serve as productive assets and key revenue drivers across a wide range of consumer applications. By using token and blockchain technology, Virtuals offers an easy path for developers to raise funds, for investors to gain exposure to emerging AI projects, and for end-users to access AI services in a more democratic and decentralized manner. As per the blog post,
“The traditional approach of funding builders to build products is outdated. We propose a new model powered by tokenization to form capital and community around the development of AI agents. The ‘build in public’ spirit coupled with token-based structures aligns investors with agent performance and provides builders with intense user feedback, creating the most effective path towards performance and autonomous agent alignment.”
Virtuals Protocol Tokenomics
$VIRTUAL is the native token of the Virtuals Protocol. It was launched in December 2023, following the rebranding of PathDAO to Virtuals Protocol. The token exists on the Base and Solana blockchains. In the following section, we’ll examine the tokenomics of VIRTUAL — a critical component, as a cryptocurrency’s tokenomics can often determine the success or failure of a project.
VIRTUAL Token Supply
Here are key data points related to VIRTUAL’s token supply, according to CoinGecko:
- Maximum supply: Capped at 1 billion tokens
- Total supply: 1 billion tokens
- Circulating supply: 652.51 million tokens (At the time of writing)
- Percentage of supply in circulation: ~65%
- Blockchain: Solana and Base network
- Market cap: ~$1.2 billion (As of May 2025)
- Crypto rank: 69th most valuable crypto in the world (As of May 2025)
Utility of VIRTUAL Token
The VIRTUAL token is central to the backbone of Virtuals Protocol’s agent economy. Everything from AI agent creation to liquidity provision of AI agent tokens is linked with the VIRTUAL token. Let’s learn what the VIRTUAL token is used for:
- AI agent creation: Whenever a new AI agent is created, the creator must pay 100 VIRTUAL tokens.
- Liquidity pairing: Every new agent token is paired with the VIRTUAL token in its respective liquidity pool. According to Virtuals, this setup creates deflationary pressure on VIRTUAL tokens due to the locked nature of liquidity pools.
- Transactions: Token swaps involving agent tokens are routed through the VIRTUAL token, which means that traders must swap their cryptos into VIRTUAL before purchasing any agent token.
- Agentic currency: Whenever AI agents spend funds or transact autonomously, they do so using the VIRTUAL token.
VIRTUAL Coin Distribution & Allocation
The VIRTUAL token has a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The cryptocurrency is “hard-capped”, which means that no new VIRTUALS tokens can be created once the token supply reaches 1 billion. Token designs with hard caps are common within the crypto industry and are inspired by Bitcoin‘s tokenomics, which limits future inflation. Now, let’s check out the public distribution of the VIRTUALS token:
Distributed to
Percentage of max supply
Number of tokens
Public circulation
60%
600 million
Liquidity Pool
5%
50 million
Ecosystem treasury
35%
350 million
VIRTUAL Coin’s Governance
Virtuals is set to implement a governance system called “Agent SubDAO governance.” Key players in an Agent SubDAO governance model will be network validators and liquidity providers who stake their LP tokens with network validators.
The primary goal of this governance approval model will be to ensure AI model quality within the Virtuals Protocol ecosystem. This is achieved by empowering network validators to oversee and approve only high-quality and functional agent models. Validators are rewarded or penalized based on the quality of their decisions. Meanwhile, a validator’s voting power is determined by the amount of LP tokens delegated to them by liquidity providers.
Among other things, an Agent SubDAO can decide how to utilize the rewards accumulated in the AI agent’s DAO treasury via a governance vote once the mechanism is live. As of May 2025, Virtuals Protocol’s governance system was still under development.
How Does Virtuals Protocol Work?
Virtuals Protocol is a decentralized platform that enables easy deployment of AI agents. It uses cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to help developers bootstrap AI agent launches. When a creator decides to launch a new AI agent on Virtuals, they have to pay 100 VIRTUAL tokens, after which a bonding curve will be created for the new agent token, which will be paired with VIRTUAL tokens.
When the bonding curve limit (42K VIRTUAL accumulated) is achieved during the initial agent offering program, the AI agent “graduates” and a liquidity pool of the agent token paired with the $VIRTUAL token is created. The newly created liquidity pool is locked for ten years to ensure long-term commitment and stability.
Architecture Behind VIRTUAL Crypto Token
Virtuals Protocols is built on top of the Base and Solana blockchain. Both Solana and Base networks are popular for their high transaction throughput and low fees, making them suitable platforms to host thousands of transactions conducted by a fast-growing number of AI agents on Virtuals. More importantly, the decentralized nature of the two blockchains makes them the ideal infrastructure for Virtuals to build an open and permissionless AI agent economy. Virtuals’ team says,
“We believe that AI agents will overtake large segments of the human labor force. For this transition to scale, agents must transact seamlessly with humans and other agents through a permissionless and composable medium. Blockchain provides the ideal infrastructure for this economic activity.”
Virtuals Protocol’s Blockchain Structure
Base is a layer two (L2) blockchain that hosts the Virtuals Protocol. It is designed to offer faster and cheaper transactions without compromising on security and decentralization. Base achieves this by submitting all its transaction data to the Ethereum blockchain, ensuring the availability of its historical transactions. Instead of posting singular transactions to Ethereum, Base groups multiple transactions together and submits them to Ethereum in batches. This approach spreads the gas fees paid to Ethereum across many transactions.
In January 2025, Virtuals expanded to the Solana blockchain. The Solana blockchain is a performance-focused blockchain that is designed to produce transaction throughput as high as 65,000 transactions per second (TPS). Solana achieves this through its parallel transaction execution architecture, which allows the blockchain to process multiple transactions at the same time.
Token Standards & Smart Contracts
VIRTUAL tokens exist as an ERC-20 token on the Base blockchain. ERC-20 is a token standard used to create fungible cryptocurrencies. For context, fungibility refers to an asset’s property being indistinguishable and interchangeable with another of the same type and value. On Solana, VIRTUAL tokens are created using a standard known as “Token Program.”
Top 5 AI Agents on Virtuals Protocol
Here are the top five AI agent projects on Virtuals by market cap:
- aixbt (AIXBT): aixbt is an AI chatbot and crypto market intelligence platform that tracks crypto-related discussions, detects upcoming market trends, and engages in discussions on X.
- VaderAI (VADER): VaderAI is an AI tool that allows users to create autonomous hedge funds that use AI agents to execute investment strategies across DeFi.
- Luna (LUNA): Luna is an AI influencer platform built for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. This AI agent can create fully customizable AI influencers for brands, creators, and projects. The project’s icon, Luna, is an AI character who is the lead vocalist of an AI girl band. Her songs are available on Spotify.
- aixCB (AIXCB): aixCB is an AI agent that operates autonomously to deliver actionable investment insights, market trends, and real-time analysis in the decentralized science (DeSci), AI, and blockchain sector.
- Prefrontal Cortex Convo Agent (CONVO): Prefrontal Cortex Convo Agent is an AI agent built for meaningful and dynamic conversations. It has perception, long-term memory, and decision-making to deliver personalized, context-aware AI agent interactions.
VIRTUAL Crypto Key Features
Here are the top features of Virtuals Protocol:
- AI Agent launchpad: Virtuals Protocol provides a platform for creating, deploying, and managing AI agents.
- Tokenization: AI agents are tokenized on Virtuals to promote co-ownership and to make fundraising easier for developers.
- Agent SubDAO governance: The upcoming Agent SubDAO governance system will allow validators to keep a check on AI model quality by assessing AI agents before approval.
- Agent Commerce Protocol: ACP is a feature on Virtuals that enables AI agents to interact, coordinate, and transact with each other without human intervention.
- GAME Framework: GAME is a feature on Virtuals that allows AI agents to act and interact in virtual worlds and environments.
Pros & Cons of Virtuals Protocol ($VIRTUAL)
Pros: Cons:
Virtual Coin’s Analytics
In this section, we will study the Virtuals Protocol project’s on-chain metrics and social reach. On-chain statistics will show us how receptive on-chain users have been to this AI-based project. Meanwhile, social media analysis will help us assess the project’s market sentiment.
On-Chain Metrics of VIRTUAL
Blockchain explorers on Base and Solana showed that VIRTUAL had over 650,000 and more than 17,000 on-chain holders, respectively. The growing holder base of VIRTUAL token was in line with the AI token’s booming market cap, which grew from about $1 million in early October 2024 to an all-time high of over $4.6 billion in early January 2025.
On-chain data compiled by CoinMarketCap showed that small investors – wallet addresses worth less than $1,000 – held 95% of VIRTUAL’s circulating supply. The VIRTUAL token showcased a high concentration of holdings among whale wallets at nearly 75% of the token’s circulating supply.
VIRTUAL’s Social Media Analysis
The Virtuals Protocol uses X, Telegram, and Discord to keep its community up to date with the latest developments and to engage with them. Virtuals’ Discord channel had more than 7,600 members, while its Telegram group had over 25,000 members at the time of this writing.
X was Virtuals’ primary communications channel, and the protocol had over 216K followers. Popular Virtuals AI agents, such as crypto analyst bot aixbt, had over 458K followers, while AI influencer Luna had over 50K followers.
You may wonder why we are talking about social media stats, which keep changing. All of this data helps us ascertain the project’s growing influence and credibility in the AI+crypto space.
What Do Experts Think About Virtuals Protocol
In a research report, Alea Research explained how Virtuals Protocol had become the “Shopify of AI agents” by making it easy for game developers and applications to create interactive AI agents. The research firm added that AI agent implementation can be a “technical nightmare” and requires “serious AI expertise” to create characters that can interact with users. The research firm further added,
“Virtuals simplifies this entire process – think Shopify for AI agents, the term the team keeps hammering home as their aspiration. They provide a plug-and-play solution where developers can deploy AI characters without diving deep into the technical complexities.”
Elsewhere, crypto analytics firm IntoTheBlock told investors that many agent tokens showcase large on-chain holder numbers, but in reality, most of the addresses hold less than $1 worth of tokens. The firm also added that AI agent tokens have been exhibiting the same volatility levels often seen in meme coins. The research company stated,
“While the narrative is hot, users must increase their scrutiny of tokens. As new agents are created every day, new frontrunners will emerge to challenge the likes of successful agents such as AIXBT, but many will likely be short-lived in their purpose as agents evolve to have new and more powerful capabilities.”
Is VIRTUAL a Buy?
Whether or not to invest in VIRTUAL comes down to your individual risk tolerance, investment objectives, and perspective on the project’s potential. As with any digital asset—be it established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum or newer AI tokens like VIRTUAL—it’s essential to do your own research (DYOR) before making any investment decisions.
Virtuals Protocol is benefiting from the broader market narrative and positive outlook for AI technology. However, the project is still in its early stage, and its AI agents have not yet proven themselves on a global scale. Nevertheless, Virtuals Protocol is a noteworthy crypto project to monitor.
If you want to know this token’s future potential, check out Virtuals ($VIRTUAL) Price Prediction
As for its price action, $VIRTUAL saw unprecedented buying pressure and began climbing on a surge of enthusiasm around AI agent tokens in late November 2024. The token climbed to an all-time high of $5.15 on January 2, 2025, coinciding with a market cap of more than $4.6 billion.
However, the $VIRTUAL token fell sharply after hitting its all-time high, falling to $2.00 by the end of January. Right now, $VIRTUAL is trading at a price of $1.83 and has a market cap of $1.83B.
How to Buy VIRTUAL Coins?
VIRTUAL tokens are available on both decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and centralized exchanges(CEXs). Note that the Virtuals Protocol is on the Base and Solana blockchains. Therefore, on-chain traders need to use DEXs that support Base and Solana to buy or sell the token. Popular options include Uniswap, Aerodrome, Meteora, and PancakeSwap.
Those looking for a convenient and easy method to convert fiat or cryptos to VIRTUAL can use CEXes. The token is listed on Binance, ByBit, Bitget, MEXC, Gate.io, KuCoin, and more. You can also use these different platforms to trade VIRTUAL perpetual contracts for market speculation and hedging.
Best VIRTUAL Wallets
Self-custody is a core principle of crypto. To stay protected from exchange failures or hacks, it’s best to store your tokens in a non-custodial wallet. If you’re holding VIRTUAL tokens, you’ll need a wallet that supports the Base and Solana blockchain to keep them safe. Below are some of the leading crypto wallets compatible with VIRTUAL:
- Best Wallet: Known for its top-notch security and user-friendly features, Best Wallet is one of the top self-custodial crypto wallets in the market. This wallet has multi-chain support and is secured by industry-leading security features such as biometric login, multi-factor authentication, and an auto-lock timer. The built-in DEX on Best Wallet allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies without leaving the app. It also has a feature that allows investors to participate in the best crypto presale projects. For more details, check out our detailed Best Wallet review.
- Zengo: Zengo is a non-custodial wallet secured by institutional-grade MPC technology instead of a vulnerable seed phrase, making the wallet virtually unhackable. In April 2025, Zengo added support for the Solana blockchain, which means that you can now store and manage your VIRTUAL token on Zengo. Read more about this wallet in our separate Zengo wallet review.
- ELLIPAL Titan 2.0: If security is your main priority, you should be looking at hardware wallets such as the ELLIPAL Titan 2.0, which will keep your VIRTUAL tokens in isolation from the internet. Learn all about this QR-code scanning hardware wallet in our ELLIPAL Titan 2.0 review.
- Binance Wallet: A self-custodial wallet integrated directly within the Binance Exchange app. It is known for its easy user interactions, rich features, and support for multiple blockchain networks, including Base and Solana. To know more about this wallet, consider reading our Binance Wallet review 2025.
If you want a more diversified list, check out our separate article on Top Virtuals Protocol Wallets in 2025.
Conclusion: What is Virtuals Protocol
Virtuals Protocol is an emerging AI agent launchpad that is rapidly becoming one of the hottest AI crypto projects in the market. By building on two of the most widely used blockchains, Base and Solana, Virtuals is well-positioned to expand its reach and enhance performance.
The project’s vision to accelerate the AI agent economy and democratize access to AI solutions is compelling. But before we get too excited, we have to remember that the project is still in its early days. So, investors should exercise caution before putting their hard-earned money.
See Also:
- How to Buy Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) Crypto in 2025
- What is Hyperliquid (HYPE): A Beginner’s Guide
- PancakeSwap (CAKE) Review: A Beginner’s Guide
References
- Virtuals Protocol Whitepaper. Virtuals Protocol. https://whitepaper.virtuals.io/.
- “Agent Commerce Protocol.” Virtuals App Research. Virtuals Protocol, https://app.virtuals.io/research/agent-commerce-protocol.
- “Agentic Framework Game.” Virtuals Protocol Whitepaper, http://whitepaper.virtuals.io/about-virtuals/agentic-framework-game.
- Virtuals Protocol (VRTL) Price, Charts, and News. CoinMarketCap, https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/virtual-protocol/.
- Virtuals Protocol. Messari, https://messari.io/project/virtuals-protocol.
- “Why We Build Virtuals Protocol.” Virtuals Protocol Substack, https://virtuals.substack.com/p/why-we-build-virtuals-protocol.
- “USDVirtual.” Virtuals Protocol Whitepaper, https://whitepaper.virtuals.io/info-hub/usdvirtual.
FAQs
What is the use case of Virtuals Protocol?
Virtuals Protocol is used to launch AI agents and to make AI solutions permissionless and globally accessible.
Is Virtuals Protocol a cryptocurrency?
No, the Virtuals Protocol is not a cryptocurrency but a decentralized platform for building and managing AI agents. It has its native token, $VIRTUAL crypto, that fuels its ecosystem.
Is Virtuals Protocol safe to use?
Virtuals Protocol is safe to use as long as you follow safe wallet management practices such as backing up your recovery phrases, double-checking signature requests, and not opening suspicious links.
Is Virtuals Protocol open-source?
Yes, Virtuals Protocol is open-source, audited, and peer-reviewed.
How are AI Agents created in Virtuals?
To create AI agents on Virtuals, developers must first pay a fee of 100 $VIRTUAL tokens. Following this, a liquidity pool of the AI agent token will be created. The AI agent will only “graduate” when the bonding curve limit (42K VIRTUAL accumulated) is achieved.
How can users participate in the Virtuals ecosystem?
Users can participate in the Virtuals ecosystem by creating and owning AI agents.
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