Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on April 2 called out the apparent priorities of many developers using AI on X as tokenized AI projects catch on.
"Too many AI agent developers focus too much on their token and not enough on the agent's usefulness," he posted on X.
CZ recommended that organizations start well with a good agent. "I recommend making a really good agent first. Only launch a token when there is product-market fit."
@esatoshiclub, who posted that "95% of AI agents don't need a token." CZ shot back with a harder take: "Maybe 99.95%," further cementing his disdain for AI-token pairings that don't bring real utility.
Other voices in the space shared a similar sentiment. CatoCryptoM commented on the research and development rush, explaining how some projects get pressured to launch too early to please investors.
In response, CZ pointed out that raising funds through tokens is a "powerful use case," but the work begins when the raise is done—building a product that provides.
Reactions across the crypto community on X have been mostly sympathetic and collegial, suggesting that many view the current AI token boom as sounding more speculative than substantive. "This is the same mistake that hurt Web3 gaming," one user observed. Too many token launches, not enough playable games."
As the AI hype wave continues, CZ calls for meaningful product development before token issuance. Utility must come before valuation, not the other way around. The AI crypto sector is worth $21.6 billion at the time of this writing. Interestingly, 44% of crypto analysts are optimistic about AI agent coins.
