A Deep Dive into Virtuals Genesis Launch’s “New Tokens Lift Old Ones” Strategy

By CryptoDavid

Edited and Translated by Cheryl L.

New AI Agent Token Allocation Model Aims to Revitalize Ecosystem

Virtuals Protocol, a platform tied to AI agent development on the Base blockchain, has experienced a notable uptick in activity in late April 2025. The $VIRTUAL token has risen 150% over the past week, including a 42% jump on April 29. This resurgence follows a period of stagnation in the AI agent narrative within Web3, with the catalyst being the introduction of Genesis Launch—a new token issuance system designed to allocate AI agent tokens through community participation.

Genesis Launch: Prioritizing Contribution Over Speed

Genesis Launch is Virtuals’ latest offering—a platform for issuing AI agent tokens with a community-driven twist. Unlike Pump.fun, where anyone can jump in and race for tokens with speed and luck, Virtuals sets a bar: participation hinges on prior contributions to its ecosystem. In essence, it curbs the opening-day frenzy of snipers grabbing cheap chips by rewarding upfront engagement.

On other platforms, token launches often favor the tech-savvy. High-speed scripts allowed snipers to purchase low-priced tokens quickly, and some users could dominate shares by using batch wallets and bidding for gas fees. Retail investors sometimes found that token prices had doubled before they even finished loading the trading interface.

To participate in token launches, one needed to understand how to set gas fees, monitor contract deployments, and sometimes stay up late to watch blockchain dynamics. Ordinary players often lacked the skills and energy, ultimately watching as more technologically adept individuals profited.

Genesis Launch offers a more measured approach. You don't have to compete frantically during the token launch; instead, it offers a different logic: Want to participate in AI token launches? Contribute to the Virtuals ecosystem and accumulate enough points. Points can be earned by holding $VIRTUAL tokens, staking other tokens, or contributing content to help promote Virtuals. This approach will be further explained below.

Overall, Genesis Launch aims to streamline the token distribution process. By holding $VIRTUAL tokens and accumulating points, users can participate in the 24-hour new token presale window by staking both $VIRTUAL tokens and points, where the system automatically calculates the amount of new tokens they can receive.

Detailed Introduction of the Points System in Genesis Launch

Points, the cornerstone of Genesis Launch, are earned through three main avenues:

• Investing in Ecosystem Agents: Users can purchase existing AI agent tokens within Virtuals, such as Sentient (emotion-based agents) or Prototype (early-stage agents), with points awarded proportional to their investment.

• Holding $VIRTUAL: Simply owning and retaining $VIRTUAL tokens earns users points, functioning as a loyalty incentive.

• Staking $VADER: Staking tokens from Vader AI, another Virtuals ecosystem project, also generates points, supporting cross-project synergy. This approach may sets a precedent for ecosystem support, as staking rules aren't fixed and other projects might also become eligible for "staking for points" in the future.

The points system updates dynamically every day. Virtuals allocates a certain total number of points daily, distributed among players who engage in the three aforementioned activities: 75% going to agent buyers, 20% to $VIRTUAL holders, and 5% to $VADER stakers. They’re dynamic and expire if unused, nudging users to join pre-sales.

The pre-sale itself runs for 24 hours. Users stake $VIRTUAL tokens, and their point tally determines their share of the new token. The supply splits as follows: 37.5% for pre-sale, 12.5% for liquidity pools (e.g., Sentient pools), and 50% for project development, treasury, and marketing. To keep things fair, no wallet can claim more than 0.5% of the total supply, and unused $VIRTUAL or points get refunded.

The process is straightforward:

1. Hold $VIRTUAL to prepare for participation.

2. Use the three methods mentioned above to accumulate points.

3. Stake $VIRTUAL and presale collateral points in the 24-hour pre-sale window via Virtuals’ site.

4. After the pre-sale, the system calculates your share based on the total points pool—new tokens land in your wallet, leftovers returned.

5. Hold or trade on a DEX.

Points serve as your "priority certificate" for participating in token launches, determining how many new tokens you can receive. The more points you have, the higher your allocation (with an individual cap of 0.5% of the total new token supply).

$VIRTUAL tokens are the cost of participating in the launch. The system suggests the amount of $VIRTUAL tokens you need to stake based on your points. The logic here is:

• More points mean a higher cap on the tokens you can receive.

• Fewer points mean that investing more $VIRTUAL for the launch might not be worthwhile.

• To prevent monopolization, a single wallet can stake a maximum of 566 $VIRTUAL tokens for the launch, and there is a 1% transaction tax.

If you don't have enough points and don't want to buy existing assets, Virtuals has introduced a Yaps mechanism that allows you to earn points through content contribution and promotion, providing more options for those looking to participate in token launches at a lower cost.

New Tokens Lift Old Ones

Genesis Launch doesn’t just mint new assets—it revitalizes old ones. Ecosystem veterans like Luna and AIXBT had cooled off post-hype, with trading volume and chatter dropping. Now, the need for points to participate in new token launches, which must be earned by purchasing older assets, has increased demand for these older tokens and effectively boosted the prices of older assets.

Simultaneously, with not many people currently involved, the prices of new assets on Virtuals are quietly rising. For instance, the BasisOS token, born from Genesis Launch, has surged 40 times in value, reaching a market cap of $5.5 million within 12 days of its launch.

Without significant changes in Virtuals' technology and narrative, this "new supports old" strategy in asset issuance has indeed stirred some waves in the otherwise stagnant market. Therefore, the narrative around AI Agent tokens may not be entirely dead but rather in need of new asset issuance strategies.

This approach isn't exclusive to Virtuals. Prominent projects centered around AI agent tokens from the previous cycle are actively seeking revival by experimenting with innovative strategies to reignite market interest. In the Solana ecosystem, ai16z appears to be doing something similar by creating a new asset launchpad, Auto.fun. This involves designing rules that economically incentivize demand for AI16Z tokens, thereby influencing the prices of older tokens.

As "new tokens lift old ones" becomes the new trend for AI Agent platforms, a more advantageous approach for investors might be to treat older tokens as Beta and actively seek out new Alpha opportunities in the current, less competitive market environment.