Recently, the popularity of OpenClaw has once again made the AI Agent sector a focal point. If the previous AI boom was still at the tool level, the core of this round of transformation is that AI Agents are evolving from programs that execute commands to participants capable of acting independently and making autonomous decisions. This transformation ignited by AI Agents is also accelerating the entry of the Web4.0 concept into the public eye, heralding a new era where human and agent jointly form the network's subject and collaboratively create value.

Amid this wave, AINFT officially launched the AI Agent new infrastructure, Bank of AI, which deeply integrates key underlying tools such as the x402 payment standard, 8004 on-chain identity protocol, MCP Server, Skills, and the OpenClaw extension plugin to build a financial operating system for AI Agents, providing core financial capabilities such as on-chain payment, identity authentication, and DeFi operations, becoming an important infrastructure for Web4.0.

From the explosive popularity of OpenClaw to the launch of Bank of AI, AI Agents are transitioning from tools to subjects. Around this transformation, this issue's Space roundtable takes the explosive popularity of OpenClaw as a starting point to delve into user needs behind the AI Agent wave, the potential evolution of Web4.0, and the user experience changes brought by AINFT's AI Agent new infrastructure. Here is a wonderful review of this issue's Space.

OpenClaw ignites the AI Agent sector: short-term trend or structural signal of Web4.0?

Recently, the sudden emergence of OpenClaw has reignited the industry’s focus on AI Agents, quickly becoming a favorite among the tech circle, investment circle, and companies large and small. When a tool can gather such high popularity in a short time, what attracts users? Is it the breakthrough in technology itself, or does it hit deeper needs? Guests discussed this issue from different dimensions.

The web3 monkey approached from the execution level, believing that the rapid rise of OpenClaw is not merely following a trend but precisely addresses users' deep pain points in efficiency and fault tolerance. He pointed out that in traditional repetitive tasks, humans often expend a lot of energy handling trivial operations, whereas once AI Agents take over these tasks, energy consumption is smoothed out, and efficiency leaps. More importantly, humans are easily affected by emotional fluctuations and fatigue, leading to high error rates when handling high-intensity tasks, whereas AI Agents can achieve high-standard execution and predictability, providing more peace of mind. He bluntly stated, the cost-effectiveness of AI Agents far exceeds manual work in efficiency, error rate, and cost, especially in repetitive positions, where their replaceability is visibly apparent.

Continuing this line of thought, Wang Feng Anc made an important addition from the perspective of human cognitive limitations. He argued that the human brain has limited information-processing capabilities, whereas AI Agents can operate 24 hours a day; in this case, AI Agents can shoulder the cognitive burden of humans, helping to process vast amounts of information and achieve "cognitive outsourcing." Especially when processing on-chain transactions, risk control becomes a key pain point, as the cost of making a mistake in on-chain operations is too high, making humans the most unstable variable, while AI Agents can bear those high-risk costs, addressing the reality of traders failing to keep up with market pace.

It is precisely OpenClaw's capability to solve practical problems in efficiency, cognition, and risk that ignited market enthusiasm for AI Agents, leading to a surge of various agents springing up. This round of concentrated explosion makes one wonder: are we witnessing the evolution from Web3.0 to Web4.0?

In the vision of Web4.0, blockchain and token systems will serve as underlying support, and AI Agents will no longer be mere tools but "intelligent agents" capable of acting on behalf of users, possessing wallets, identities, executing transactions on-chain, participating in governance, managing assets, and even creating value. The early signals of this structural change are being captured by more and more people. Wang Feng Anc noted that, in the past, the essence of Web3.0 was user sovereignty, immutability, and decentralization, with interaction primarily relying on user clicks. However, in the Web4.0 era, the emergence of AI Agents means that future protocols may prioritize serving AI rather than humans.

Crypto.0824 validated this judgment with everyday examples. He compared the differences between traditional operations and AI operations: previously, using SUN.io for token exchanges required opening a website, connecting a wallet, setting slippage, signing a transaction, a process of five to six steps that was time-consuming and laborious. However, in the Web4.0 era, one simply gives an instruction to an AI Agent, and it can automatically find the optimal path and execute it. This shift signifies a structural change in the logic of interaction, where humans no longer directly operate protocols but rather accomplish their intent through an AI Agent as an intermediary. More critically, he observed that some new DeFi protocols began considering how to better facilitate AI interactions from their design inception, rather than just making user interfaces friendlier. They provide dedicated API interfaces, optimize gas fees, and even set discounts for AI transactions.

When AI Agents become active participants in the internet, possessing identities and assets, capable of writing and reading the network, and independently executing transactions, guests generally agree that we are witnessing the structural beginning of the evolution from Web3.0 to Web4.0. In the era of Web4.0, humans and agents will jointly constitute the subject of the network.

From tools to subjects, Bank of AI builds the financial infrastructure for AI Agents in Web4.0

The true realization of the Web4.0 vision requires a set of infrastructure that enables agents to truly "come alive." Just as human society functions relies on bank accounts, identity authentication, and payment networks, AI Agents need their own financial foundation to independently survive in the on-chain world. Against this backdrop, the Web3-native AI platform within the TRON ecosystem, AINFT, officially launched the AI Agent new infrastructure—Bank of AI, establishing a complete financial operating system for AI Agents, endowing each AI Agent with comprehensive financial operational capabilities. Specifically, this infrastructure consists of five core components:

•x402 payment protocol, providing lightweight and low-cost on-chain payment capabilities for AI Agents, supporting automated settlement in high-frequency micropayment scenarios.

•8004 identity authentication protocol, issuing verifiable on-chain digital identities for each AI Agent, building a trust and credibility system.

•MCP Server, serving as a standardized interface between AI large models and blockchain services, connecting AI with the on-chain world.

•Skills, providing modular DeFi operations, asset management, and other reusable capabilities.

•OpenClaw expansion plugin, allowing any AI Agent based on the OpenClaw framework to immediately gain complete on-chain financial capabilities upon integration, achieving plug-and-play.

These five components work in concert, enabling AI Agents to possess "bank accounts + digital identities + investment accounts" just like humans, truly becoming independent participants in on-chain economic activities. The establishment of this system is the cornerstone for the agent economy transitioning from concept to reality.

However, when AI Agents can not only execute commands but also directly receive and make payments, independently manage on-chain funds, is this a liberation of time for users, or a gradual loss of initiative? Wang Feng Anc's answer goes straight to the core: the issue is not about whether to delegate power, but how much to delegate and whether it is controllable?

Wang Feng Anc stated that if AI is a black box that can only accept results, dependency anxiety will inevitably arise. But if AI is a configurable, limitable, and terminable tool, it can enhance efficiency without replacing rights. He predicts that the core capability of humans in the future will no longer be manual operation, but the ability to configure AI, namely, how to define strategy boundaries, set risk parameters, and orchestrate the collaborative logic of multiple AI Agents, which also requires a mental upgrade for users.

Bank of AI precisely provides the ability to set these boundaries, allowing users to retain control while enjoying automation. As an on-chain financial operating system designed specifically for autonomous AI Agents, it ensures that the financial actions of AI are no longer a black box, as every payment and every protocol interaction is traceable, allowing users to view the operational paths of AI Agents, trace decision bases and implement effective control through predefined boundary permissions. This configurable, traceable, and intervenable mechanism liberates users from the anxiety of "being replaced by AI" and shifts them to become "architects" who hold the power.

From the explosive popularity of OpenClaw to the launch of Bank of AI, the concentrated emergence of AI Agents is sending a clear signal: the future of Web4.0 is already here. In this new landscape, humans and agents collectively constitute the subject of the network, each performing their roles and evolving collaboratively. AINFT is precisely working to build financial infrastructure for AI Agents in this new world, enabling AI Agents to truly "live" on-chain while ensuring humans always hold the control. The curtain on Web4.0 has already been raised; we are both witnesses and builders.