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AI Next Stop: Launchpad Enters the "Institutionalized Era", MCP Counters with "Decentralized Distribution from VCs"
Original Title: "Crypto AI Second Half: Launchpad War, Tokenomics Shift Towards Ecosystem, Rising Star of MCP"
Original Author: Zolo, Deep Tide TechFlow
It has been just over 4 months since the last assessment of AI projects. The once-promising AI narrative has been hit hard by Trump's Meme, the sudden emergence of deepseek, and various setbacks such as tariffs, leading to a gradual depletion of on-chain liquidity. A series of "unexpected" events have caused the AI bubble to burst prematurely.
After assessing those projects last year, I have been following up on basically all of them. It is evident that some have gradually died out, some are still storytelling, some are continuing to work on new things, and some have experienced unexpected rebounds due to the arrival of "whales."
On April 6, the MCP project Dark launched;
On April 17, Virtuals' Genesis Launchpad went live;
On April 20, ai16z's auto.fun Launchpad went live.
Is there a second wave for AI? My answer is yes. Is AI still the same as before? My answer is no.
After experiencing the burst of the bubble over the past few months, can AI achieve reconstruction from ruins? As we enter the second half, how will AI play? Here are my thoughts.
Launchpad Outbreak, Meme Launchpad and AI Launchpad Will Each Occupy Half of the Territory
This year, we have seen too many Launchpads. The outbreak of Four.Meme at the beginning of the year, myshell's AI Launchpad went live; and recently, Launchlab. In addition to these Launchpads, in different ecosystems, each is building its own Launchpad.
The competition of Meme Launchpad is fundamentally about ecosystem + creator competition. The ecosystem determines that each public chain can have its Meme Launchpad, and almost only one Meme Launchpad can become the role that wins it all.
The creator competition includes:
1- Providing token issuers with a better revenue-sharing model
2- Attracting those with creative (angle-seeing) minds to issue tokens on your platform
Known as the flagship of Launchpads, "$TIME" only reached a peak of 9M, and there hasn't been a successful Meme that emerged from it. News of Pump.fun releases one or two tokens a day, with only a handful successfully graduating, while other platforms have none.
What affects one, affects all. However, most of the above are focused on "Meme" Launchpads. The key here is the perspective and ongoing dissemination. Memes lack utility, and whether you like it or not, an AI Agent must have utility to be taken seriously.
Therefore, you will see AI projects launching on dedicated AI Launchpads, as Meme Launchpads are not suitable for AI Agents.
According to incomplete statistics, compared to Meme Launchpads, there are already at least 5-10 AI Launchpads.
· Meme Launchpad: Pumpfun, Launchlab, FourMeme, Clanker, Apeswin, etc.;
· AI Launchpad: autofun, Virtual Genesis, Creatorbid, Arc Ryzome, Myshell, Spectral, etc.
In addition to users creating tokens themselves, the launch method of AI Launchpads often involves collaborating directly with existing AI projects. Virtuals Genesis currently has 7 projects waiting to launch, whereas autofun has announced partnerships with and launches of 13 projects. The previously popular Arc has also announced its AI AppStore plan. If you believe in AI, you should also pay attention to more new projects on AI Launchpads. Meme Launchpads and AI Launchpads will each have their own strengths in this field.
Virtuals & AI16Z: The Evolved Version of Ecosystem Economics
In the previous cycle, the two most representative projects, Virtuals and AI16Z, have been the most diligent and have consistently kept themselves updated in my opinion.
Virtuals, representing the Agent, had a tokenomics model in the previous cycle that was thought to be a significant driver of token price increases. AI16Z was the hottest project of the previous round, yet its token utility was most criticized. Several months later, both projects have undergone significant changes. From my point of view, their actions are now more focused on the role of the token in the "ecosystem" rather than just within the project itself.
Virtuals: Introducing VPN, ACP, Points, Genesis
VPN: Virtuals Partners Network, aimed at reshaping the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency. VPN connects investors, domain experts, scholars, and developers to collectively explore, support, and scale the development of the cryptocurrency space's finest AI founding agents.
· ACP: Agent Commerce Protocol, designed to build a business ecosystem composed of AI agents. This protocol will allow autonomous interaction, collaboration, and transactions among AI agents, forming the so-called "Virtuals Nation," a concept introduced ahead of Google's Agent2Agent.
· Points: Loyalty points, also a form of proof of loyalty, holding $VIRTUAL token earns points, which will be used to participate in the Launchpad.
· Genesis: A new launch mechanism on the Virtuals Protocol, featuring point-based access, on-chain new allocation method (deterministic, transparent, fair), and refund guarantee (aimed at protecting contributors).
AI16Z: ElizaOS V2, AUTOFUN, AI16Z New Economic Model, Spartan V2
ElizaOS V2: The new upgraded AI framework, as V1 had many contributors and plugins, which made efficiency lower for new developers using the framework. Therefore, new features and structural optimizations will be updated soon, including swarms, agent interactions, and more.
· AUTOFUN: A new AI launch platform with a new, fairer, and long-term bonding curve, customizable CA addresses, AI token validation chat mechanism, community content creation tools, etc.
· AI16Z New Economic Model: Currently, there is no detailed official announcement material yet. According to the team, the launch platform's profits will be used for buyback, where the purchased AI16Z will, in turn, replenish the liquidity pool for its launch token, similar to Virtuals.
· Spartan V2: $degenai will be upgraded and launched with ElizaOS V2, and as a key part, will also shill autofun's project.
Whether it's functionality or Token, the two former top projects have not stopped empowering the ecosystem. Here are two screenshots:
Recently, the AI track has been reignited due to the MCP concept, and some friends have begun to "pick up trash" in old projects and pay attention to the ecological opportunities of these old projects. In addition to DARK, the recently popular SkyAI is also based on the MCP concept, and previous old coins such as $DIGIMON, $AVA, $ARC, and others are also moving in this direction.
As long as AI continues to develop, new concepts will emerge. As long as you don't leave the table, there will still be opportunities this year.
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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.
The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.
Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.
Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.
The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:
· Choose the trading asset
· Select long or short
· Input position size and leverage
· Confirm order details
· Confirm and open the position
The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.
Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:
· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members
· End-to-end encrypted voice communication
· One-click position sharing
· One-click trade copying
On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.
By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.
Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:
· Users can join with an invite code
· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards
· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings
This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.
Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:
· Separation of transaction account and asset storage
· User full control over assets
· Platform does not custody user funds
· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure
The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.
Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.
The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.
Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.
This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."
The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.
Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.
Its core capabilities include:
· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations
· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets
· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries
· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication
Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.
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