What is DeFAI?

DeFi is one of the core pillars in crypto. AI agents have begun to capture excitement as an emerging opportunity.

Now, projects are being built out that will allow users to type in an action-oriented prompt and an AI agent will carry out the trade or swap in the background, pioneering a whole new sector of crypto called DeFAI (DeFi + AI). 

Don't ask us exactly how to pronounce it, but we can tell you why it's worth paying attention to!

Getting Active Onchain 🤖

AI agents first appeared in the crypto space as simple Twitter accounts that were able to interact with humans and hold conversations. That evolved into them posting useful information based on on-chain data and what people were tweeting about.

Users then started to push the boundaries of these AI agents and wanted to test what other useful tasks these agents would be able to complete. We have now seen AI agents running funds, making music, and creating art. Teams have now started building applications that utilize these AI agents to assist in almost anything crypto-related and may start becoming an alternative to traditional hot wallets due to their convenience and the ability to manage your funds.

Streamlining the Experience 🌅

When newbie users want to interact with a DeFi application, even basic tasks like lending out ETH can be tricky.

Simply navigating these projects and ensuring your funds are going to the intended place can be confusing. Meanwhile, having to go back and forth between networks trying to zero-in on top yield opps for a single token can be downright annoying.

With DeFAI projects like Orbit, this can all be accomplished with just a simple prompt! Users simply ask the agent “Can you deposit some ETH into Aave for highest yield on any network?” and the agent will be able to bridge your ETH if needed to the correct network to deposit your funds without you having to search for it. Orbit offers a variety of protocol-specialized agents that new users can interact with and browse what all these different agents offer. They can also just type into the Orbit agent a prompt like “Where can I deposit my USDC to earn yield?”, which Orbit will return a list of protocols that users can deposit their USDC into.

Carrying the Boats 🛶

Not only are these DeFAI projects able to assist in completing actions onchain, but they can also help out with heavy lifting on the research side. For many veteran users, scrolling through docs, white papers, and GitHub repositories are a necessary tasks before touching any project at all. 

DeFAI teams, like Clustr Labs, are creating AI agents to scrape through project documentation and give an output on the most relevant and important information, saving users hours of research. 

Cleaning Up Crypto 🧼

An additional issue that these DeFAI platforms are solving for is reducing the sheer number of scams that occur in the space.

That may sound like a tall order, but if you have spent any time on CT, you have seen a multitude of accounts trying to impersonate accounts with malicious links. These DeFAI projects will be able to determine and whitelist certain projects to which their AI agents have access. This will ensure that users are interacting with projects that don't have malicious intents and have their funds stolen from just signing one wrong transaction.

Top Projects? 💸

While DeFAI projects are still in their early stages, they are laying the groundwork for the DeFi space as a whole. These AI agents are capable of improving every user's workflow, no matter how experienced you are. So don't be surprised when you start seeing DeFi projects building out their own AI agents and integrating them for everyday use on their platform.

Interested in taking a look at more top early projects in this space? Check out our recent Citizen-gated article!

DeFAI: Top Projects Tackling AI Agents + DeFi on Bankless

Unpacking the latest buzzy sector in the fast-evolving crypto AI agent space.

BanklessKazu Umemoto Jan 10, 2025 • 4 min read