Twelve months ago, DeFAI was a Twitter meme. Truth Terminal and Goat were posting flatulence jokes on X while everyone laughed at the absurdity. Then something shifted. What started as AI agents shitposting for attention became a $1.3 billion sector spanning 90+ projects. 

Suddenly, managing portfolios meant literally talking to them. Binance declared it the “foundational evolution” of DeFi itself. And before we knew it, the fart philosophers had become our financial advisors. 

Now, as venture capital floods the space and thoughtfully designed projects emerge daily, we’re witnessing the birth of an entirely new financial primitive—one where autonomous agents don’t just execute trades, but think, learn, and optimize in ways humans simply can’t.

But what does this brave new world actually look like? We rounded up the sector’s sharpest minds to share their hottest takes on where this rabbit hole leads.

The Great Divide: AI Creates Winners and Losers

The most uncomfortable truth emerging from expert responses? DeFAI is creating two distinct user classes.

For DeFi veterans, AI agents unlock unprecedented advantages: continuous portfolio management, sophisticated optimization strategies, and reduced manual oversight. But for newcomers, the outcome looks different.

Michal Moneta cuts straight to the heart of it:

“Of course, AI agents will improve DeFi, but mainly for those already deep in the weeds. The level of optimization and automation they enable simply isn’t achievable through manual human effort alone. But for everyone else, the space will remain just as unapproachable, if not more so. Non-DeFi investors already struggle to trust the system, which serves as the real barrier (instead of just ‘poor UX’). So you might ask: will handing custody of their money and strategies to an autonomous AI agent solve that problem? Or will it push the psychological barrier even higher?”

It’s democratization and gatekeeping happening simultaneously. AI doesn’t eliminate DeFi’s complexity, it abstracts it. For new users, that abstraction may actually reduce transparency, making trust even harder to build.

Data is the New Moat

While AI agents promise to level the playing field, their actual effectiveness depends on one thing: data quality and exclusivity.

Phil McM summarizes the uncomfortable reality:

“DeFAI feels like it levels the playing field, but the ultimate edge comes from proprietary data. This makes it more powerful in the hands of institutions instead of retail. Smaller players will need to collaborate to win in the long run.”

Tim Henderson echoes this from an operational perspective:

“All projects that do not embrace InfoFi at the core of their marketing are ngmi. InfoFi will be the backbone of tracking the effectiveness of campaigns and initiatives while fairly rewarding contributors adding to the growth.”

The conclusion is clear: AI agents enhance efficiency, but without differentiated data inputs, their output converges toward average. Institutions with private data channels retain a massive advantage.

The Stablecoin Trojan Horse

Several experts identify a more approachable entry point for mainstream users: AI-managed stablecoin products.

Arthur Fox frames this as crypto’s breakthrough moment:

“DeFAI + Stablecoins are the trojan horse we’ve all been looking for to onboard the masses into crypto. Stablecoins are making their way into the mainstream, and as stablecoins grow, DeFAI will provide the normie-friendly way to get a solid return on their stablecoins. Crypto’s adoption curve is about to hit a true inflection point.”

This approach aligns with current user behavior. Many DeFi newcomers start with stablecoins, drawn by dollar-denominated stability. AI agents that optimize stablecoin yield without requiring deep DeFi knowledge could be the missing piece of the adoption puzzle.

Token Skepticism: Prove Utility or Die

A critical question facing DeFAI projects: is tokenization actually necessary, or just expensive theater?

Emily Lai points to an uncomfortable truth:

“The future of AI agents using payment rails is already possible today outside of crypto with things like n8n flows that connect AI LLMs to APIs. This is essentially web2 composability and will continue to improve, it also doesn’t need a token tacked on to work. For crypto projects to be successful, they’ll need to help users make more money and/or be more convenient than a web2 solution.”

The message is clear: tokenization must deliver tangible utility, whether through permissionless access, verifiable incentives, or decentralized governance. Otherwise, DeFAI risks becoming another expensive way to solve problems that web2 already handles better.

Humans vs. Bots: The Great Handoff

DeFAI is accelerating the transition of trading functions from humans to machines. The consensus? Short-term execution becomes purely algorithmic while humans retreat to strategy and system design.

Dave.sol paints the full picture:

“DeFAI’s future? Picture this: by 2030, AI-driven DeFi systems are so advanced they’re managing trillions in assets autonomously, outsmarting all human traders and making traditional finance obsolete. But here’s the spicy part: What’s the risk? The line between tool and overlord could get dangerously thin. Regulators will be playing catch-up to rugpulls, bear markets, and much more that they don’t fully understand.”

Zeneca offers a more immediate perspective:

“Short-term trading is soon going to become a thing of the past for humans. It’ll be optimized by AI and be a purely bot vs. bot world, and human edges will resolve to only being ‘who can make the best bot’ basically. Longer-term trades/investing will still allow space for human ingenuity to find an edge, at least for the foreseeable future.”

We’re not being replaced, we’re being promoted to management.

Breaking the Ouroboros: Real-World Yield

Many experts remain critical of DeFi’s circular yield mechanisms—money chasing itself through leverage and token incentives rather than external economic activity.

Dabbler articulates both the problem and opportunity:

“Most DeFi yield is still just the ouroboros—money chasing itself in circles, propped up by leverage and hype. DeFi and DeFAI gets more interesting when yield is sourced from outside the loop. When yield comes from real-world demand and revenue-generating assets like infra, compute, energy, real estate—and capital knows where to flow without needing a human to manage it.”

Real-world assets, infrastructure, and tokenized real estate are increasingly seen as the missing link between DeFAI’s technical capabilities and sustainable financial outcomes.

The Gaming Dark Horse

While much DeFAI discussion focuses on financial infrastructure, some experts (aka me) see gaming as the more immediate, scalable opportunity. When tokenized agents turn every game character into a personalized, memory-enabled entity that actually knows you, we’re talking about the largest consumer touchpoint in human history getting an AI brain transplant.

Yerbearserker adds an evolutionary perspective:

“DeFAI is the next evolutionary split. In the coming year, builders who align with decentralized AI will grow like wildfire—compounding reach, yield, and access at unnatural speed. Those who resist? Starved of oxygen, choked by throttles, left to decay. Nature rewards those who adapt and DeFAI is pure survival of the fastest.”

With gaming exceeding $470 billion globally, integrating tokenized AI agents into interactive environments presents a clear path to mainstream adoption, potentially faster than purely financial applications.

AI as the New Interface Layer

DeFAI isn’t just optimizing backend operations, it’s redefining how users interact with financial systems entirely. AI agents are becoming the front-end layer, making complex workflows feel seamless.

Alex Poon captures this transformation:

“Remember when Stripe made payments one-line code? Next, AI agents make money move itself. Your bot sees credit card rewards expiring, flips them into SOL, stakes for 8%, and texts you the receipt. The power of AI agents in finance is driving friction to zero, across both TradFi and DeFi.”

Moriki extends this to consumer commerce:

“A 24/7 buyer on every tokenized marketplace worldwide. From the Nintendo Switch 2 to the hottest Pokémon cards, your AI analyzes market conditions in real time to pinpoint the perfect buy and sell moments. Gone are the days of site crashes or waiting in line for that weekend Supreme hoodie drop in NYC. Your AI agent watches tokenized inventory and price fluctuations around the clock, automatically securing your purchase rights the moment the drop goes live, and locking in resale opportunities instantly.”

This highlights a critical shift: DeFAI will redefine how users interact with value across chains, markets, and asset classes. Autonomous agents will serve as personal operating systems for economic decision-making.

The Infrastructure is Ready

The technical foundations for DeFAI to scale already exist. Intents architecture, automated liquidity routing, and agent-driven execution are operational.

Greg Patenaude summarizes this readiness:

“The rails for DeFAI are already in place with intents architecture. Soon, every DeFi trader will have an army of AI agents executing strategies, managing portfolios, and automating tasks that were once reserved for power users. The fragmented L2 landscape will fade into the background. Traders will simply interact with their agents, while behind the scenes, those agents navigate a vast ocean of liquidity and opportunity. We’re at the starting line of an open, unconstrained financial frontier.”

The technical challenge is no longer feasibility, it’s refinement, accessibility, and alignment with real user needs.

The Verdict: Acceleration with Uneven Outcomes

The evolution of DeFi through AI agents is underway, but its impacts will be uneven across user groups, ecosystems, and market participants.

Key Takeaways from Industry Leaders

• AI agents will primarily benefit experienced users and institutions unless accessibility and trust gaps are addressed

• Proprietary data will define competitive advantage more than AI sophistication alone

• Tokenization remains optional unless it delivers clear, differentiated value

• Real-world yield, gaming, and stablecoin strategies are critical adoption pathways

• The underlying infrastructure for DeFAI is ready—what remains is proving sustainable, user-aligned utility

As with every major shift in this space, those who understand the nuance will be best positioned to build, invest, and participate effectively. The fart philosophers may have become financial advisors, but the real question isn’t whether AI agents will reshape DeFi, it’s who will control them, and whether the benefits flow to everyone or just the insiders who understand the game.

The revolution is here. The only question is whether it democratizes finance or just makes the gatekeepers smarter.