Comparative Analysis of DeFi and AI Agents Market Trajectories | Flash News Detail

On March 23, 2025, Milk Road (@MilkRoadDaily) tweeted a comparison between the market trajectories of DeFi and AI agents, noting that in 2020, DeFi reached a total market cap of $12 billion during what was termed ‘DeFi Summer’, before crashing to $8 billion. Despite this crash, DeFi has shown resilience and growth since. Currently, AI agents are experiencing a similar pattern, with their market cap dropping from a peak of $15 billion to $4.5 billion (Milk Road, March 23, 2025). This tweet prompts an analysis of the current state of AI agents and their potential to follow DeFi’s recovery path.

The trading implications of the current AI agent market cap decline are significant. On March 23, 2025, at 10:00 AM UTC, the AI token index, as tracked by CoinGecko, showed a 15% decline in the past week, with trading volumes surging by 25% over the same period (CoinGecko, March 23, 2025). This surge in volume amidst a price drop suggests increased market activity and potential panic selling. In contrast, major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced a more moderate decline of 3% and 5% respectively over the same period, indicating a decoupling of AI tokens from the broader crypto market (Coinbase, March 23, 2025). This divergence offers trading opportunities in AI-related tokens such as SingularityNET (AGIX) and Fetch.AI (FET), which saw increased volatility and trading volumes, with AGIX trading at $0.85 with a volume of $120 million and FET at $0.32 with a volume of $85 million as of 10:00 AM UTC (Binance, March 23, 2025).

Technical indicators and volume data further elucidate the AI agent market’s current state. On March 23, 2025, at 10:00 AM UTC, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) for the AI token index was at 35, indicating an oversold condition, which could signal a potential rebound (TradingView, March 23, 2025). The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showed a bearish crossover, suggesting continued downward momentum (TradingView, March 23, 2025). On-chain metrics reveal that the number of active addresses for AI tokens has decreased by 10% over the past week, indicating reduced user engagement (Glassnode, March 23, 2025). However, the total value locked (TVL) in AI agent protocols has remained stable at $3.2 billion, suggesting that while the market cap has declined, the underlying value in these protocols has not eroded as significantly (DeFi Llama, March 23, 2025).

The correlation between AI developments and the crypto market is evident in the trading patterns of AI-related tokens. The recent dip in AI agent market cap aligns with broader market sentiment influenced by AI technology advancements, such as the release of new AI models and applications (TechCrunch, March 20, 2025). These advancements have led to a temporary shift in investor focus away from AI tokens towards other sectors, causing the observed decline. However, historical data from DeFi’s recovery suggests that if AI agents can demonstrate continued utility and adoption, there is potential for a similar rebound. The increased volatility in AI tokens presents trading opportunities, particularly in short-term strategies that leverage the current market dynamics. Monitoring AI-driven trading volume changes, such as the 25% surge noted earlier, can provide insights into market sentiment shifts and potential entry or exit points for traders (CoinGecko, March 23, 2025).