The 0G Foundation is investing $88 million in a fund designed to advance AI-powered DeFi agents.
With DeFAI agents on the rise, AI-powered financial systems will become more decentralized, verifiable, and self-sufficient, extending their influence to areas like insurance.
To accelerate AI-powered DeFi innovation, the 0G Foundation, the group spearheading the 0G decentralized AI operating system, has unveiled an $88.88 million ecosystem fund to support DeFAI agents and related projects.
Several Web3 investment firms, including Hack VC, Delphi Ventures, Bankless Ventures, and OKX Ventures, have strategically backed the fund.
Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G Labs, stated that this fund launch takes place at a decisive moment for the intersection of AI and blockchain innovations.
“The rapid growth of AI capabilities, coupled with the need for trustless, transparent systems in finance, makes this the ideal time to accelerate the development of autonomous agents,” Heinrich said.
He added, “With the completion of our AI Alignment Node Sale and the approaching mainnet launch, 0G’s infrastructure is ready to support a new wave of AI-powered decentralized applications,”
Industry watchers suggest that the emergence of AI agents may define one of the biggest investment narratives in crypto for 2025.
According to a Jan. 2 report, Luna executed a fully autonomous blockchain transaction in early January, fueling interest in AI agents.
Heinrich predicts that autonomous DeFAI agents will redefine DeFi protocols and improve opportunities for generating passive yield.
“The biggest premise of DeFAI agents from 0G’s perspective is to enable fully autonomous, verifiable and decentralized AI-driven financial systems that operate without centralized control.”
Innovations will include real-time adaptive yield optimizers, advanced on-chain trading bots, decentralized insurance solutions, and agents designed for cross-chain arbitrage.
Heinrich noted that DeFAI agents have the potential to influence not just finance but also supply chain automation, AI-based governance structures, and decentralized scientific exploration.
“By leveraging 0G’s infinitely scalable infrastructure, DeFAI agents can process vast amounts of data, adapt to market dynamics in real-time and optimize financial strategies with minimal human intervention,” Heinrich added.
As of March 26, 2024, the ecosystem fund arrives nearly a year after 0G Labs raised $35 million in pre-seed funding from over 40 crypto investors to speed up on-chain AI progress.
The $88 million fund is open to projects that focus on delivering practical solutions to challenges in climate change, workforce automation, healthcare, supply chains, privacy, government efficiency, security, and education.
The foundation has expressed its desire to fund projects that are both scalable and technically achievable, aiming to contribute concrete value to the 0G ecosystem.
The foundation invites teams developing AI agents for DeFi and social applications, on-chain data marketplaces, and AI-powered gaming and metaverse solutions to submit their projects.
As of November 2024, 0G Labs has raised $290 million in capital to advance the development of its AI operating system, according to reports.
