Whale Bleeds $20.4M on Six AI Agent Tokens - A Brutal Lesson in Hype
Another crypto whale just got harpooned—this time by the AI agent craze. A single investor watched $20.4 million evaporate across six different AI-themed tokens, a stark reminder that not all that glitters in the DeFi sea is gold.
The Anatomy of a Washout
The losses didn't come from one bad bet, but from a portfolio-wide bloodbath. The whale's positions across multiple 'next-gen AI' projects simultaneously tanked, turning a diversified play into a concentrated disaster. It's the kind of wipeout that happens when narrative momentum reverses and liquidity vanishes faster than a VC's promises.
Narrative vs. Fundamentals
AI agent tokens have been the darlings of the recent cycle, promising to automate everything from trading to content creation. But this crash exposes the fragile foundation of many projects: more marketing than machine learning, more hype than actual utility. When the music stops, the tokens with the weakest hands—or the largest, most illiquid bags—get crushed first.
A Cynical Take from the Trenches
Let's be real—this is Wall Street's 'dumb money' playbook dressed in a crypto hoodie. Chasing the hot sector, over-leveraging into illiquid assets, and praying for a greater fool. Sometimes that fool is you. The only AI that made a killing here was the one that sold at the top.
The silver lining? Flushes out the weak hands and reminds everyone that in crypto, you're either the whale or the plankton. Today's $20.4 million lesson is just the cost of admission in the world's most expensive casino.
Whale loses $20.4M on six AI agent tokens
This might be one of the worst investments ever.
A whale/institution spent $23M buying AI agent tokens on #Base and sold everything today for only $2.58M, resulting in a $20.43M(−88.77%) loss.
Breakdown:$FAI: −$9.87M(−92.31%)$AIXBT: −$7.81M(−83.74%)$BOTTO:… pic.twitter.com/DbEqIyD6xT
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 16, 2025
Lookonchain monitored the Whale’s holdings across six AI agent tokens. On-chain data revealed that FAI suffered the biggest loss, dropping 92.31% to $9.87 million. AIXBT lost $7.81 million, which is 83.74% less than the purchase price.
The decline in the remaining positions was just as sharp. BOTTO dropped by 83.62%, or $936,000. POLY fell 98.63%, erasing $839,000.
NFTXBT experienced the largest percentage decline in the market, with a 99.13% decline and a loss of $594,000. MAICRO lost $381,000 at the conclusion, which is an 89.55% decrease.
On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence revealed that the Whale’s wallet address currently holds just $3,635.51, down 8.78% in assorted assets. The assets include ETH and small holdings in BYTE, MONK, and SANTA. Factually, the dramatic exit marks a Near-total loss of AI agent tokens.
The Whale’s exit comes amid the waning enthusiasm for AI tokens in early 2025, when the sector saw a decline of 77%. The AI agents’ crypto sector is still suffering losses, with its overall market capitalization falling below $5 billion amid a wider drop.
According to the latest data, the market capitalization of AI Agents is at $3.41 billion, up 1.9% over the previous day.
On-chain data revealed that nearly all AI tokens have been impacted by the decrease, with the majority following a similar path in the cryptocurrency market.
AI Agents fall from $16 billion market capitalization
Not long ago, fully autonomous AI agents were lauded as the future. According to Kore.ai, the AI agents promised to handle complex, multi-step tasks without human intervention. In reality, however, the narrative took a different turn. Companies experimenting with “runaway agents” by late 2025 found that independence came at a high price, such as a lack of oversight, inefficiency, and unpredictability.
AI agent tokens demonstrated intense market interest. On-chain data revealed that at one point, AI agents had a total market cap of about $16 billion. However, the focus on AI agents was fleeting. Token prices fell more than 90% from their high, while the majority of projects fell short of development projections.
Earlier this year, Guy Turner, the co-founder of Coin Bureau, argued that it is still too early to discount the promise of AI agents, despite the industry’s precipitous drop raising questions about its long-term viability.
Turner believed that as AI technology develops, there may be a resurgence of interest in and acceptance of AI agents. He identified institutional investment, regulatory clarity, and retail participation as important growth drivers.
Turner claimed that the AI sector might become legitimate with the help of governments, IT companies, and financial institutions, transforming it from a speculative industry to a significant player in the market.
“AI agents are clearly a disruptive force, and we don’t yet know exactly how much value they can provide but you can bet your bottom dollar that tech companies everywhere are going to do whatever it takes to find out.”
Guy Turner, co-founder of Coin Bureau.
Turner also mentioned the potential for a meme coin comeback to serve as a temporary stimulus. He believed that the idea that AI Agent tokens are just “meme coins with a chatbot attached” is an oversimplification of their actual potential.
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