# Ethereum's dAI Push *Author: Bankless* *Published: Sep 19, 2025* *Source: https://www.bankless.com/ethereums-dai-push* --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/08/Group-665--2-.png)](https://bankless.cc/KGEN-midshare) Ethereum's dAI Push Published on Sept. 19, 2025 [ View in Browser ](https://www.bankless.com/mindshare) --- [**Sponsor: KGeN**](https://bankless.cc/KGEN-midshare) — KGeN is building the Verified Distribution Protocol for the next Web3 wave. [Grow with KGeN](https://bankless.cc/KGEN-midshare) .  .  . MARKET PULSE Layers Within Layers [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/09/image---2025-09-19T101228.914.png)](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/artificial-intelligence)**The onchain AI space has been steady in recent days, with the overall market cap of **[**all AI coins**](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/artificial-intelligence)** hovering just over $32B, similar to what we saw at this point last week. ** Per usual, though, some projects separated from the pack, and more than a few of the 7D outperformers came from Ethereum Layer 2s. For example: - **The Upsider** ([$UP](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/the-upsider-ai) +132%) — An AI agent on Base that serves as a guide to the Constellation Network, which supports building metagraphs, i.e. custom blockchains. - **Neuron** ([$NRN](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/neuron) +78%) — An AI and robotics R&D lab operating on Arbitrum that's centered around bringing new kinds of experiences to games via AI agents. - **Vader** ([$VADER](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/vaderai-by-virtuals) +55%) — An AI initiative on Base that has recently expanded toward robotics, focusing on crowdsourcing real-world data to train AI models for physical tasks. Beyond L2s, the Bittensor ecosystem also had some runners this week. The biggest gainers were **Synth **([$SN50](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/synth-2) +183%), which serves as a synthetic data layer for agents, and **Sportstensor **([$SN41](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/sportstensor) +168%), a sports predictions network. Altogether, for now the onchain AI action seems to be shifting away from broad market moves and toward pockets of experimentation. Keep your eyes peeled on the corners of the market that most people still aren’t watching yet! .  .  . ROUNDUP Ethereum's New Focus on the dAI Frontier Bankless Author: [ William Peaster](https://x.com/wmpeaster) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/09/image---2025-09-17T112620.628-1.png)](https://www.bankless.com/read/ethereums-dai-frontier)**Ethereum is doubling down on the AI frontier**. This week, the Ethereum Foundation announced the creation of the [dAI Team](https://x.com/DavideCrapis/status/1967573374911340975), led by Davide Crapis, to position Ethereum as the go-to coordination layer for all things artificial intelligence. AI agents are surging, of course, but most rely on centralized infrastructure. In contrast, Ethereum offers a neutral, verifiable, censorship-resistant base layer where agents can transact and build reputation *without *middlemen and data silos. There's a lot of potential here accordingly, so the dAI Team will focus on two major fronts: **1)** building up the AI economy on Ethereum, and **2)** ensuring the future of AI isn’t locked into a handful of centralized platforms. This rollout comes as we *also *just learned that the Ethereum Foundation was among the contributors to [Google's Agent Payments Protocol](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/announcing-agents-to-payments-ap2-protocol?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=unpaidsoc&utm_campaign=fy25q3-googlecloud-blog-ai-in_feed-no-brand-global&utm_content=-&utm_term=-&linkId=16809590) (AP2) and the **A2A x402** extension, the latter of which offers support for crypto payments like ETH transactions. We won't have to wait long for further related advances, either. For instance, the ChaosChain team has already [created a prototype](https://x.com/_sumeetc/status/1968296490583064949) that integrates AP2 with Ethereum's recently introduced [ERC-8004](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004) "Trustless Agents" tech, and that's just an early taste of what's to come at this crossroads. **Bottom line**: Ethereum’s value prop has always been neutrality + trustlessness, and these values are what autonomous AI agents need *most *to coordinate at scale. Will this dAI bet pay off in a big way? It's possible. And if it does, Ethereum will become indispensable for the next great era of onchain commerce. Cheers then, let's see what the dAI team cooks from here! [Bookmark on Bankless](https://www.bankless.com/read/ethereums-dai-frontier) --- ## ***Plus, other news this week*...** ### 🤖 **AI Crypto ** - 🔥** Bankr** — [launched Bankr Earn for automatic yield on USDC balances](https://x.com/bankrbot/status/1967575565332000889) - **Giza** — [crossed $2B in agentic volume facilitated](https://x.com/gizatechxyz/status/1967958350932611317) - **Vader** — [released the closed beta of EgoPlay, its gamified task board for smart glasses users](https://x.com/Vader_AI_/status/1966520084395971015) - **Surf** — [the new AI crypto copilot resource kicked off open access](https://x.com/Surf_Copilot/status/1967785589538992607) ### **📣 General News** - **China** — [has banned tech companies from buying NVIDIA's AI chips](https://www.ft.com/content/12adf92d-3e34-428a-8d61-c9169511915c) - 🔥** ElevenLabs** — [introduced Studio 3.0, a single editor for advanced AI audio models](https://x.com/elevenlabsio/status/1968344592740434188) - **OpenAI** — [is applying new restrictions to ChatGPT users under 18](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/16/openai-will-apply-new-restrictions-to-chatgpt-users-under-18/) - **YouTube** — [is deploying generative AI tools for Shorts creators](https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/generative-ai-creation-tools-made-on-youtube-2025/) ### **📚 Reads** - 🔥** Messari **— [Understanding Virtuals Protocol](https://messari.io/report/understanding-virtuals-protocol-a-comprehensive-overview) - **OpenAI** — [Detecting and Reducing Scheming in AI Models](https://openai.com/index/detecting-and-reducing-scheming-in-ai-models/) - **Diego** — [Simplify DeFi with DeFAI](https://x.com/diego_defai/status/1967987742446338227) --- --- *This article is brought to you by [MetaMask](https://www.bankless.com/sponsor/metamask-1776260643?ref=ethereums-dai-push)*