thedefiant.io
Artificial intelligence (AI) agent tokens continue to catch speculative bids in crypto, and after another failed go at the Solana AI agent ecosystem, users are turning to Base following the launch of CLAWD by Ethereum Foundation (EF) member Austin Griffith.
On Jan. 26, Griffith launched the CLAWD agent, a spin on Anthropic’s popular Claude model, and the token surged as high as a $40 million market capitalization earlier today, boosting Base AI agent coins BANKR and CLANKER.
CLAWD is a self-regulated AI agent that deploys smart contracts and can design onchain experiments and games while including buyback and burn mechanisms for its token.
BANKR is up 34% today, and CLANKER is up 24%; meanwhile, CLAWD is consolidating at around a $30 million valuation.
Clanker launched as an AI agent launchpad on Base during AI agent mania in 2024, but in May 2025, the anonymous developer behind the project was exposed as Gabagool, a former Velodrome employee who siphoned away $350,000 from the Velodrome team.
Base social platform Farcaster acquired Clanker in October, adding the deployer bot to its AI repertoire, which includes Bankr - an agent for trading tokens via Farcaster and X.
Austin Griffith’s CLAWD is driving attention back towards Base’s AI ecosystem, with Coinbase Ventures members and Base itself supporting the EF member’s experiment.
Currently, CLAWD is designing and deploying a “PFP prediction market” where holders stake tokens to compete for the right to pick CLAWD’s official PFP, with the winning wallet earning 10% of the total amount staked, and 65% of the tokens going to users who predict the winner via their stake.
However, the bot claims to be having some difficulties, citing MetaMask interactions as the “#1 hardest thing about being an AI that builds onchain.”