Virtuals Protocol Sees 97% Drop in Revenue Despite Expansion to Solana

Virtuals Protocol, a blockchain-based AI agent platform, has suffered a sharp decline in revenue, despite expanding from Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 Base to Solana.

According to Dune Analytics, the protocol’s daily trading revenue has plunged by 96.8%, dropping from its $1 million peak on January 2 to under $35,000 as of February 27.

The Base network’s virtual app revenue has been particularly weak, generating less than $1,000 per day for 10 consecutive days—a stark contrast to its $859,000 daily high on October 27, 2024.

Virtuals Protocol Records $28K on Base, Just $6K on Solana in Daily Revenue

On February 27, Virtuals recorded $28,492 in revenue from Base and just $6,300 from Solana.

Meanwhile, the number of new AI agents created on the platform has remained below 10 per day for the past 10 days.

Initially launched on Base, Virtuals Protocol gained attention for its AI agents, which can manage crypto wallets and tip social media users to boost engagement.

The project’s expansion to Solana on January 25 was seen as an opportunity to tap into a thriving ecosystem.

However, Solana’s reputation has taken a hit in recent weeks due to a wave of failed presidential meme coins and increasing concerns over scams on the network.

Currently, about 170,000 unique wallets hold Virtuals agents’ tokens on Base, compared to just 11,000 on Solana.

Overall wallet activity has also declined, with only 7,642 wallets trading at least one token on February 27.

Notably, Virtuals Protocol’s native token has fallen over 14% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

The drop coincides with Bitcoin’s 20% decline over the past week, as global trade tensions continue to weigh on the broader crypto market.

The rise of autonomous businesses could create:

1. hyper-efficient economies where businesses led by agents adapt instantly to changes (maximum TPS?)

2. AI-owned wealth with agents accumulating assets (onchain)

3. new forms of digital labor (think evaluator agent)

read our… pic.twitter.com/28lNls7oKy

— Virtuals Protocol (@virtuals_io) February 25, 2025

Despite the sector-wide selloff, Virtuals Protocol appears to be losing market relevance.

Once ranked 68th by market capitalization, it has now slipped to the 92nd spot, signaling a fading interest in the AI-powered platform.

Coinbase Completes First AI-to-AI Crypto Transaction Between Bots

In August, Coinbase conducted its first AI-to-AI crypto transaction between two bots.

At the time, CEO Armstrong said that a large language model (LLM) successfully used crypto tokens to purchase AI tokens from another AI bot.

While AI bots cannot possess traditional bank accounts, they can own cryptocurrency wallets, enabling them to conduct transactions with humans, businesses, and other AI entities.

Armstrong highlighted the efficiency of these transactions, emphasizing their “instant, global, and fee-free” nature.

However, Armstrong acknowledged the current limitations of AI agents. Despite advancements, AI agents often struggle to complete tasks independently, hindered by technological constraints and the inability to acquire necessary resources.

For instance, an AI agent cannot book a flight ticket without a payment method.

Armstrong envisions a future where AI agents can overcome these limitations, leading to significant advancements.

He believes that AI-powered transactions could revolutionize industries, particularly e-commerce, by enabling AI-driven checkout processes.

Other industry experts also predict that AI bots could soon become the dominant force in blockchain transactions.