Crypto is back, as we covered in last week’s newsletter, but the question is- who is back the most? And where’s the money printing?

Let’s look at the top-performing sectors of the last month:

AI has come out on top, so which AI ecosystems are winning?

Virtuals Protocol has a clear lead with a whopping +242% on the 30-day, with honourable mentions to both KAITO and ai16z.

So what’s new in Virtuals Protocol, and why is the ecosystem pumping? First, we need to understand the launchpad problem.

📛 The Launchpad Problem

98% of tokens on Pump.Fun have rugged or were scams.

This is revealed by a new report from Solidus Labs, which shows that out of the 7 million tokens launched on Pump Fun since 2024, only about 97,000 held more than $1,000 in liquidity.

93% of radium pools also showed signs of soft rugs.

The report indicates that 80 to 90% of investors lost money.

And it’s not only pump.fun, rugs like LIBRA devastate the liquidity in the memecoin market, with insiders cashing out, and regular crypto traders losing.

✅ The Solution:

New launchpads are a hot topic right now with several emerging with different and improved mechanisms to prevent rugs, scams and level the playing field.

This brings us to Virtuals Genesis, the fair way for AI agents to launch, and it’s printing👇

🤖 What Is Virtuals Genesis?

Genesis is a launch mechanism tailored for AI agents, focusing on equitable token distribution. It shifts the traditional launch paradigm by emphasising community involvement and measurable contributions, ensuring that early supporters and active participants receive fair allocations.

⚙️ How Genesis Works

1. Agent Creation: Developers initiate the process by creating a new AI agent on the Virtuals platform, providing essential details such as the agent's name, visual representation, and token information.

2. Launch Scheduling: A specific launch date is set, during which community members, referred to as "Virgens," can participate.

3. Participation via Virgen Points: Virgens pledge their Virgen Points, earned through active engagement within the Virtuals ecosystem, to gain eligibility for token allocations.

   • Make sure to check your allocation if you have held any $VIRTUALS or Virtuals AI Agents.

4. Commitment of $VIRTUAL Tokens: Participants commit $VIRTUAL tokens during a 24-hour window. The launch proceeds successfully if the total commitment reaches or exceeds 42,425 $VIRTUAL. Otherwise, all committed tokens and points are refunded.

5. Token Distribution: Successful launches result in the distribution of AI agent tokens to participants, with allocations capped to prevent dominance by large holders.

🎯 Key Features

• Fair Access: By leveraging Virgen Points and capping individual allocations, Genesis ensures a level playing field, minimising the influence of bots and insiders.

• Refund Mechanism: Participants are protected through an automatic refund system if the launch does not meet the required commitment threshold.

• Community-Centric: The platform rewards active community members, aligning token distribution with genuine ecosystem contributions.

Anecdotally, the community reception of the launchpad has been quite positive, and the virtuals team has been quick to continually develop features.

🚀 How to Join a Genesis Launch

Here’s your quick-start guide to navigating a Genesis launch:

1. Pledge Points + $VIRTUAL: You must pledge both Virgen Points and $VIRTUAL during the presale.

   

2. Estimate Allocation: Your share is based on how much you’ve pledged compared to others.

3. Commit $VIRTUAL: max 566 $VIRTUAL, including a 1% fee.

4. Lock In: After 24 hours, your allocation is finalised. Extra $VIRTUAL gets auto-refunded.

5. Adjust if Needed: New participants can dilute your share, add more points or $VIRTUAL to stay competitive.

6. Check Dev Terms: Always review vesting schedules and token lockups before committing.

✅ How to Earn Virgen Points

1. Hodl $VIRTUAL
   Earn points by holding $VIRTUAL or Agent tokens. The longer and larger you hold, the more you earn. Trading counts too, but at lower rates.

   

2. Stake Approved Tokens

3. Post About Virtuals
   Create quality Twitter content about Virtuals.

• Link your account

• Submit posts daily via Typeform

• Earn extra points for solid content

🚀 Notable AI Agents Launched

Several AI agents I’ve been interested in have been successfully launched through Genesis, including:

Axelrod ($AXR): Axelrod is the flagship agent of AIxVC, your AI-native hedge fund manager. He removes emotion from trading, executing strategy-based, risk-adjusted allocations across DeFi.

At the time of writing, $AXR is 48 hours post-launch and is holding price nicely. You can see sells are being met with buys, and each seller is currently in Jeet Jail.

• GLORIA ($GLORIA): Gloria is an AI-powered data platform that provides real-time, highly curated, customizable news data. Gloria's main goal is to provide ultra-low latency crypto news data to AI agents, traders, & other platforms that need high-fidelity signals to make efficient trades & investment decisions.

As you can see above, $GLORIA launched over 10 days ago, and is currently up an additional 250% from then.

• ARBUS ($ARBUS): Arbus is an AI-powered market intelligence layer for InfoFi, turning market signals into actionable intelligence for agents.

At the time of writing, $ARBUS is currently live in pre-sale, which lasts 24 hours.

Some people like @IcoBeast are spending time in Jeet Jail, but the lesson here is perhaps that taking profits is okay.

🎙️ Spaces, Signals, and Solid Advice

This week Matt’s been on a tear, levelling up both in public and behind the scenes. He’s ramping up his presence by hosting more X Spaces and interviewing standout names and teams in the crypto space.

It’s all part of the grind to build traction and draw more attention to the plays coming out of our corner of crypto. If you’ve been tuning in, you know it’s already paying dividends.

One of Matt’s biggest shoutouts this week goes to our very own Shoshin. Shoshin’s latest move saw a short setup executed cleanly and bagged profits. Matt put it best:

On the portfolio side, Matt’s been making some bold yet calculated moves:

• Barry: Accumulating steadily from 300K to 700K—confidence is high.

• DXY: He’s added a good chunk, and prices have absolutely ripped 🔥🔥

  

• OG Andy buys: Now up 100%, showing that early conviction is being rewarded.

• HASH/GPU: Heating up nicely—momentum is building.

The broader read? Micro-cap risk appetite is back on the menu. The established low-cap memes are starting to print.

Matt is also throwing in a word of caution: With a surge of FURIE derivatives flooding the market, Matt is urging caution: “There’s only so much liquidity to go around!”

In classic Matt fashion, it’s a mix of hustle, insight, and humility. Stay sharp, stay safe, and keep riding those waves with discipline. The plays are cooking, and the alpha is flowing. Let’s get it, legends. 🫡

📺 TURBO Breakout

Why is the toad pumping?? Find out 👇

For real-time alpha and trade alerts from Matt at What Is Crypto

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🪙 ETH Update

Shoshin recently opened and partially closed an ETH short as a hedge. He entered in two spots, took 50% profit at the lows, and moved his stop-loss to $2,630. While ETH trends upward on most timeframes, he’s simply protecting against downside.

• The red vertical lines mark the two instances where he entered short positions.

• He secured profits by taking 50% off at the lows.

• His stop-loss is now at $2,630, making this a risk-free trade.

Where does he think the price is heading next?

On most time frames, the price is trending upwards.

The next key level of interest is around $2,300.

Shoshin isn’t pretending to predict the future, he’s preparing for its possibilities.

If you are looking for good entries, follow Shoshin in the Discord and X; there will be more opportunities.

Stay Up-to-Date with Shoshin

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As always. Zoom out. Take a breath. Touch grass. 🌱

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