According to recent data, AI-based agent tokens have outperformed other crypto sectors over the past 30 days, demonstrating impressive double-digit price growth.
This surge occurs against the backdrop of a broader market recovery, where AI agents serve as the dominant narrative.
AI agents lead the recovery of the cryptocurrency market.
After significant losses in the first quarter of 2025, the AI agents sector saw a noticeable turnaround. Early in March, BeInCrypto reported that its market capitalization had fallen to $4.4 billion, representing a sharp decline of 77.5% from its all-time high.
However, the momentum has shifted. Over the past month, AI agents have experienced a price increase of 39.4%. The sector outperformed other narratives such as meme coins (+36.9%) and decentralized AI (+16.3%) over the last 30 days.
With the highest relative strength index of +7.7, the tokens showed exceptional momentum, highlighting their growing appeal among investors. CoinGecko data shows that this surge raised the total market capitalization of AI agent tokens to $6.4 billion. Among the top ten tokens, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) experienced extraordinary growth of 142.8%, reaching a two-month high. The token's growth is supported by a significant increase in active users, indicating strong community engagement and adoption.
Furthermore, ai16z (AI16Z) and aixbt from Virtuals (AIXBT) rose by 72.1% and 66.1%, respectively. Broader interest in the sector extends beyond the cryptocurrency market, as evidenced by Google Trends data. Last week, the search volume for the keyword 'AI Agents' reached 100. At the time of writing, it stood at 94. This reflects a growing public interest both within and outside the blockchain space.
Is FOMO the driving force behind the recent rise in popularity of AI agents?
However, despite the bullish sentiment, some experts remain skeptical. Simon Dedik, CEO of Moonrock Capital, pointed out the recent outperformance of AI and meme coins.
According to him, this trend reflects what he describes as 'the ultimate mean-reversion trading.' In other words, many investors who previously sat on the sidelines are now rushing to invest in these sectors. However, they are driven by the fear of missing out on potential profits as market conditions improve.
Thus, Dedik is very critical of such behavior. He suggested that these investors focus more on chasing trends rather than making reasoned, long-term investment decisions.
"They deserve to lose everything — and most of them probably will. The real alpha will be in fundamental trading on recovery, and it will outperform everything else," Dedik stated.
As the market continues to evolve, only time will tell whether these tokens can maintain their momentum or if the speculative hype will eventually fade.