# The Bankr Boom *Author: Bankless* *Published: Mar 14, 2025* *Source: https://www.bankless.com/fr/the-bankr-boom* --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/03/image---2025-03-13T150259.055.png)](https://www.bankless.com/sponsor/frax-1737128738?ref=read/bankr-drb-surge&email=true) The Bankr Boom Published on Mar. 14, 2025 [ View in Browser ](https://www.bankless.com/mindshare) --- [**Sponsor: Frax**](https://www.bankless.com/sponsor/frax-1737128738?ref=read/bankr-drb-surge&email=true) — Fraxtal Ecosystem: Where DeFi Meets AI. [Learn more](https://www.bankless.com/sponsor/frax-1737128738?ref=read/bankr-drb-surge&email=true) .  .  . MARKET PULSE $VIRTUALS Bounces [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/03/image---2025-03-14T115923.624.png)](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/virtuals-protocol-ecosystem#key-stats)*via [Coingecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/virtuals-protocol-ecosystem#key-stats)* **📸 Market Snapshot:** After another rollercoaster week for the markets, Friday saw a strong bounce for many AI tokens, which manifested in particularly strong jumps for agents in the Virtuals ecosystem. While all still down on the week (like the overall agent market cap), tokens like $VIRTUAL shot up ~18% today, while $GAME climbed ~20% and $AIXBT rose ~10% in that span. Additionally, many [low-cap agents](https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/virtuals-protocol-ecosystem) in the Virtuals ecosystem have seen fresh double-digit gains, with some even finishing the week in the green. All this comes amid renewed momentum for Base, which [ranked #1](https://app.artemisanalytics.com/flows) for most new inflows in recent days as Coinbase ramped up [more token listings](https://x.com/CoinbaseAssets/status/1900341053787381821) and Coinbase Ventures debuted the [Base Ecosystem Group](https://www.coinbase.com/blog/the-future-of-investing-is-open-and-onchain), an onchain investment fund powered by Echo. Token prices as of 3pm ET 24hr 7d ![](https://assets.coingecko.com/coins/images/34057/standard/LOGOMARK.png?1708356054) **VIRTUALS** $0.68 ↗ 18.8% ↘ 8.5% ![](https://assets.coingecko.com/coins/images/51090/standard/AI16Z.jpg?1730027175) **AI16Z** $0.19 ↗ 10.5% ↘ 18.5% ![](https://assets.coingecko.com/coins/images/52701/standard/u312bPNA_400x400.jpg?1734044765) **ARC** $0.06 ↘ 6.1% ↘ 43.7% .  .  . AI ROLLUP AI Arms Race [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/03/image---2025-03-13T151030.149.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Pu0jq1nS0)**The AI arms race is accelerating. With China’s new Manus agent outpacing top models, OpenAI’s dominance is looking shakier than ever.** In this episode, David and Ejaaz dive into how AI agents are reshaping global competition, the shift toward smaller, smarter models, and why Anthropic’s MCP could be the key to AI’s next evolution. Plus, the team unpacks the wild story of Bankr and $DRB—Grok's new, albeit unofficial, token on Base! *Watch the full episode now* 👇 [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Pu0jq1nS0) .  .  . NEWS ROUNDUP The Bankr $DRB Surge: When AI Moves Markets Bankless Author: [ William M. Peaster](https://x.com/wmpeaster) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e4/b7/e4b77544-5a37-4f0b-8824-8440aa348476/content/images/2025/03/image---2025-03-13T145906.123-2.png)](https://www.bankless.com/read/bankr-drb-surge)**Last week, **[**Bankr**](https://x.com/bankrbot)**, the AI-powered crypto trading companion growing in popularity on X and Farcaster, made waves when it helped deploy $DRB (DebtReliefBot), the first AI-generated token launched via Grok’s suggestion.** The saga began on March 7, 2025, when a user on X asked Grok, X's AI chatbot, to name a token. Grok [suggested $DRB](https://x.com/grok/status/1897949874961650169), and the user deployed it [through Bankr](https://x.com/bankrbot/status/1897950192613441617), which leveraged Clanker's token launch protocol. The result? A viral token explosion. Within three days, [$DRB](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/debtreliefbot) surged to a $38 million market cap, fueled by hype around the novelty of Grok's first unofficial token. The market cap has since slid back to earth from that peak. Yet the token boasts [$25M volume](https://dune.com/sealaunch/dex-metrics-on-base) over the last day, currently putting it behind only a few USDC and cbBTC pairs on Base when it comes to trading activity. After the $DRB deployment, more coins followed as users prompted Grok for more name ideas. Over [16 additional tokens](https://dune.com/clanker_protection_team/grokxclanker) were deployed this way through Bankr, triggering a second wave of speculation. However, later on March 7, a user manipulated Grok. The requester prompted the [AI to deliver ~4 ETH](https://x.com/grok/status/1898049648528433608) worth of trading fees that it had quickly racked up as the $DRB creator in its [Privy-powered](https://x.com/privy_io/status/1900264989979795537) Bankr wallet. The Bankr team quickly responded. As co-founder Deployer [announced](https://x.com/0xDeployer/status/1898098193986208001): "To safeguard Grok's future clanker fees, Bankr will no longer be responding to Grok." In turn, this cut-off cemented the status of $DRB as the main *unofficial *Grok token. Grok's Bankr wallet has since accrued an additional +$600k worth of trading fees. For now, it's an open question if and how the X team will respond to these earnings. Deployer has [recommended buy-and-burns](https://x.com/0xDeployer/status/1900037676537123120), but what happens next here remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Bankr is continuing to evolve. The team is [finalizing staking plans](https://x.com/0xDeployer/status/1900255236847206851) and preparing to [launch Bankr Club](https://x.com/bankrbot/status/1899932726758957406), a power users membership program facilitated by 1,000 NFTs. Zooming out, the $DRB boom is the latest example of how AI can drive real financial activity, but it also highlights the need for safeguards around AI wallets. It's a good time for iterating, though, as things are only just beginning here. [Bookmark on Bankless](https://www.bankless.com/read/bankr-drb-surge) --- ## ***Plus, other news this week*...** ### 🤖 **AI Crypto ** - **Allora **[integrated Coinbase's AgentKit](https://x.com/AlloraNetwork/status/1900218068929802438) - **Chaos Labs**, [the company behind Jupiter Exchange's oracle, launched their waitlist for their upcoming AI crypto researcher, Chaos AI](https://chaoslabs.xyz/posts/introducing-chaos-ai) - **Flaunch **[is adding support for AI agent launches](https://x.com/flaunchgg/status/1899537617223295031) - **Holoworld **[is adding agent support for Pudgy Penguins, Miladies, and Deadfellaz](https://x.com/HoloworldAI/status/1899968574971932940) - **Lagrange **[introduced DeepProve, a zkML library for verifiable AI inference](https://x.com/lagrangedev/status/1899853992714498449) - **Perplexity Prophet**, [a Tiny agent, used Bankr and Perplexity to create $IXA](https://x.com/0xtinylabs/status/1899569828962488598) - **Up Network** [is partnering with ElizaOS to power its smart glasses](https://x.com/upnetworkhq/status/1899501300502667419) - **Virtuals** [unveiled a trading fees update](https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1899067206442586414) and [announced its Virtuals ACP Hackathon with $100k in prizes](https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1900185918147064015) ### 📣 **General News** - **CZ **[said X should ban all bot accounts](https://www.theblock.co/post/345360/binance-founder-cz-says-elon-musks-x-should-ban-all-bots) - **Midjourney **[is working with hardware labs and 3D printers](https://x.com/nickfloats/status/1899907529901064358) - **OpenAI **[is developing a new creative writing model](https://x.com/sama/status/1899535387435086115) - **Snap** [introduced AI video lenses](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/12/snap-introduces-ai-video-lenses-powered-by-its-in-house-generative-model/) ---