The “DeFAI” summer is coming. How will AI reshape the future of DeFi?

Original title: DeFAI is the New DeFi
Author:Defi0xJeff , Crypto Kol
Compiled by: zhouzhou, BlockBeats

In this article, jeff discusses how DeFAI (decentralized finance + artificial intelligence) can simplify, optimize and enhance the DeFi experience through abstraction layers, automated trading agents and AI-driven dApps, and introduces multiple developing DeFAI projects, such as Almanak and Cod3x and Mode, etc., emphasizing the role of AI in improving trading strategies and managing investment portfolios.

The following is the original content (the original content has been edited for ease of reading and understanding):

DeFi has been the backbone of Web3. It makes blockchain practical, providing tools to instantly move funds around the world, invest assets on-chain, lend and borrow without intermediaries, and stack strategies between DeFi protocols. This is financial freedom at your fingertips.

More importantly, DeFi solves real-world problems. It gives the unbanked access to financial services, removes intermediaries, and operates around the clock, creating a truly global, inclusive financial system.

But when we face reality, we realize that DeFi is complicated. Setting up wallets, managing transaction fees, avoiding scams and running away - this is not suitable for ordinary people. The ever-expanding L1, L2 and cross-chain ecosystem only makes things more complicated. For most people, the barrier to entry is simply too high.

This complexity has limited the development of DeFi, but with the emergence of DeFAI, this situation is beginning to change.

What is DeFAI?

DeFAI (DeFi + AI) makes DeFi more accessible. By leveraging AI technology, it simplifies complex interfaces and removes barriers for ordinary people to participate. Imagine a world where managing your DeFi portfolio is as easy as chatting with ChatGPT.

The first wave of DeFAI projects has begun to appear, mainly focusing on three areas:

1. Abstraction layer

2. Autonomous trading agent

3.AI-driven dApps

1. Abstraction layer

The goal of the abstraction layer is to hide the complexity of DeFi through an intuitive interface. They allow users to interact with DeFi protocols through natural language commands without the need for complex dashboards.

Before AI, abstraction layers like intent-based architecture simplified transaction execution. Platforms like CoWSwap and symm io solve the problem of liquidity fragmentation by allowing users to get the best pricing in decentralized liquidity pools, but they don’t solve the core problem: DeFi still feels difficult.

Now, AI-driven solutions are filling this gap:

Griffin is the first project to launch a token, which is still in early access and requires an invitation to use.

Griffin is more versatile, allowing users to perform various operations from simple to complex, such as task automation (DCA), issuing memecoins, and conducting airdrops.

Orbit/Grift is the second project to launch a token, and the product is designed for on-chain DeFi experience. Orbit emphasizes cross-chain functionality because it has integrated more than 117 chains and 200 protocols, the largest number of integrations among the three protocols.

Neur is the third project to launch a token, but due to its open source characteristics, it quickly surpassed Orbit in valuation. Neur positions itself as Solana's co-pilot, designed specifically for the Solana ecosystem. Neur is powered by sendaifun's Solana Agent Kit.

I personally use slate ceo, they are still very early days and haven't launched a token yet, but I love their automation features. I mainly use it to set up conditional trades, such as selling 25% of my position if xxxx reaches a market cap of $5 million, or buying $5,000 worth of tokens if xxx reaches the price of xxxx.

AIWayfinder is another interesting project to keep an eye on. This is a behemoth built by the PRIME / ParallelTCG team and is worth looking forward to.

2. Autonomous trading agent

Why spend hours mining alpha, manually executing trades, and trying to optimize your portfolio when you can have an agent do it for you? Autonomous trading agents take trading bots to the next level, turning them into dynamic partners that adapt, learn and make smarter decisions over time.

To be clear, trading bots are not new. They have been around for years, performing predefined actions based on static programming. But agents are fundamentally different:

They extract information from unstructured and constantly changing environments.

They reason about data within the context of their goals.

They discover patterns and learn to exploit them over time.

They are capable of performing actions not explicitly programmed by their owner.

This subfield is growing rapidly, and initially agents may have been used purely for fun - perhaps hyping some shitcoins for bole, for example - but have now shifted to more practical, profit-driven tools that help users more effectively Make a transaction. However, an important challenge remains: How do you verify whether an "agent" is just a robot, or even a human operating behind the scenes?

This is where DeAI infrastructure plays a key role.

The role of DeAI in verification agents

Critical infrastructure like a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) ensures that agents can operate securely and without tampering.

For example:

·TEE: Promoted by PhalaNetwork, TEE provides a secure isolation area where data can be processed confidentially. Phala's experiments—such as Unruggable ICO and Sporedotfun—show how agents can perform tasks while maintaining data integrity.

Transparent execution/verification framework: Innovations like zkML (zero-knowledge machine learning) or opML provide inference and computational verifiability. Hyperbolic labs' Proof-of-Sampling (PoSP) is a prominent example. This mechanism combines game theory and sampling techniques to ensure that calculations are both accurate and efficient in a decentralized environment.

Why is this important?

When autonomous agents start handling large amounts of TVL (let's say $100 million or more), users will demand guarantees. They need to understand how the agent manages risk, validate the framework they operate on, and ensure their funds aren’t being used to randomly throw money at some crapcoin.

This area is still in its early stages, but we are already seeing some promising projects exploring these verifiability tools. As DeFAI develops, this is a direction worth paying attention to.

For more DeAI infrastructure trends, check out this article:

Top self-directed trading agents I’m following

Almanak

Almanak provides users with institutional-grade quantitative AI agents to solve complexity, fragmentation, and execution challenges in DeFi. The platform performs Monte Carlo simulations in a real-world environment by forking the EVM chain, taking into account unique complexities like MEV, transaction fees, and transaction order.

It uses TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) to ensure the privacy of policy execution, protect Alpha information, and implement non-custodial fund processing through Almanak Wallets, allowing precise delegation of permissions to agents.

Almanak's infrastructure supports the ideation, creation, evaluation, optimization, deployment and monitoring of financial strategies. The ultimate goal is to have these agents learn and adapt over time.

Almanak raised $1 million on legiondotcc and it was oversubscribed. Next steps include beta release and preliminary policy/agent deployment for testing with beta testers. It will be interesting to see how these quantitative proxies perform.

Cod3xOrg/BigTonyXBT

Created by the Byte Mason team (known for their work at Fantom and SonicLabs), Cod3x is a DeFAI ecosystem designed to simplify the creation of trading agents. The platform offers a no-code building tool that allows users to build agents by specifying trading strategies, personalities and even tweet styles.

Users can access any data set and develop financial strategies in minutes, leveraging a rich API and strategy library. Cod3x integrates with AlloraNetwork to use its advanced ML price prediction model to enhance trading strategies.

Big Tony is the flagship broker based on the Allora model, trading in and out of mainstream currencies based on its predictions. Cod3x is working to create a thriving ecosystem of autonomous trading agents.

A distinctive feature of Cod3x is its liquidity strategy. Unlike the common alt:alt LP structure popularized by virtuals io, Cod3x uses a stablecoin:alt LP backed by cdxUSD, which is Cod3x's own CDP (collateralized debt obligation). This structure provides liquidity providers with more stability and confidence compared to the volatility of alt:alt trading pairs.

Cod3x also has its own DeFi primitives such as Liquidity AMOs (Automated Market Operations) and Mini Pools, which enhance liquidity and add more functionality/DeFi Lego components to the agents in its ecosystem.

Other noteworthy items

getaxal/Gekko Agent—Axal's self-driving product where the agent handles complex multi-step encryption strategies. Gekko integrates autonomous driving capabilities. I'm waiting to see how Gekko performs data-based trading in autopilot mode.

ASYM41b07 — Dubbed by many as the “cheat code for memecoin trading,” ASYM agents are able to analyze large amounts of data from blockchain and social media to predict memecoin trends. ASYM has consistently outperformed the market and demonstrated 3-4x returns through backtesting. It will be interesting to see how it performs in real trading.

ProjectPlutus—I just like the name PPCOI

3.AI-driven decentralized applications (dApps)

AI-powered dApps are a promising but still nascent area within the DeFAI space. These are fully decentralized applications that integrate AI or AI agents to enhance functionality, automation, and user experience. While the field is still in its infancy, some ecosystems and projects are already starting to stand out.

Modenetwork is a very active ecosystem in this field. It is a Layer 2 network designed to attract high-tech AI x DeFi developers. Mode is home to multiple teams working on cutting-edge AI-driven applications:

·ARMA: Autonomous stablecoin mining tailored for user preferences, developed by gizatechxyz.

·Modius: An autonomous agent powered by autonolas that mines Balancer LP.

· Amplifi Lending Agents: Developed by Amplifi Fi, these agents integrate with IroncladFinance to automatically exchange assets, lend and borrow on Ironclad, and maximize returns through automatic rebalancing.

The core of this ecosystem is MODE, the native token. Holders can stake MODE to obtain veMODE to enjoy airdrops of AI agents, whitelist access to projects, and more ecosystem benefits. Mode is positioning itself as the center of AI x DeFi innovation and expects its influence to grow significantly in 2025.

In addition, danielesesta has attracted widespread attention through HeyAnonai's DeFAI theory. He announced that HeyAnon is developing the following:

·As an abstraction layer for DeFi interfaces

·DeFi proxy for autonomous trade execution

·Research and communication agents for acquiring, filtering and interpreting relevant data

The market responded enthusiastically, with the market value of the ANON token surging from $10 million to $130 million. Daniele seems to be bringing back the excitement of TIME Wonderland, but this time with a stronger foundation and a clearer vision.

In addition to these two ecosystems, there are many teams building their own AI-driven decentralized applications. I will share more information in the future once a major ecosystem forms around them.

final thoughts

DeFAI is changing DeFi by making it smarter, simpler and more accessible. With abstraction layers simplifying user interactions, autonomous trading agents managing portfolios, and AI-driven dApps optimizing application scenarios, we are ushering in the dawn of a new era.

Rather than saying that it was the DeFi summer of 2020, 2025 will be the DeFAI summer.