Author: TechFlow
Since the beginning of the year, with the launch of OpenAI Sora, the Apple Vision Pro conference and the technological breakthrough of AI memory, successive hot events have not only promoted the concept of AI to become the mainstream narrative of 2024 in the eyes of financial elites, but also the simultaneous development of software and hardware. More people are beginning to look forward to the further integration and collision of AI and social networking.
This craze has also swept across Crypto without any surprise: on the one hand, it is reflected in the mushrooming of AI + Crypto projects, and the track tokens WLD, RNDR, etc. have also experienced general rise. Within 30 days, WLD soared from US$2.5 to US$9.1, with a monthly increase of more than 100 US dollars. 300%. According to the latest data from Coingecko on March 5, the total market value of AI-related crypto assets has reached 19.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 64% compared with 12 billion half a month ago. On the other hand, in Web2 social products due to centralization issues At this time, which has been criticized a lot, decentralized social products integrating AI technology have become the focus of attention.
Image source: CoinGecko
At a time when the AI concept is gaining popularity, the decentralized AI entertainment social network CharacterX App has exceeded 600,000 downloads, has more than 100,000 daily active users, and has an average of 50 minutes of daily active users. It has gained widespread attention from the community with its outstanding data performance. As an AI + Crypto project focusing on the social track, CharacterX App has now launched a large number of AI character NFTs, including officially launched public characters and a large number of AI identity characters created by users based on their own demands. Users can also collect points by interacting with the characters. Airdrop chips in the future. It is reported that the first quarter airdrop of the project will also arrive in the first quarter of 2024.
Is social an important breakthrough for mass adoption of AI + Crypto? In the absence of a landing scenario, does the social AI product CharacterX, which is experiencing explosive user growth, have the potential to become a leader in this track?
This article aims to introduce CharacterX, a new project on the AI + Crypto track, and explore the future opportunities and challenges of AI + Crypto through the project’s vision, layout and track potential in AI entertainment and social networking.
Social: An excellent entry point for AI + Crypto to converge and be adopted on a large scale
First, let’s clarify the relationship between social networking, AI and Crypto:
Social networking is a specific product in a specific application scenario, and AI and Crypto, as important driving forces of the technological revolution in the 21st century, are technical means to help products achieve better services.
Why does the community look forward to the combination of the two innovative technologies of AI and Crypto?
AI has improved efficiency, but the current development of AI tends to be monopolistic: through data feeding and model training, AI gives cold machines "intelligence", provides more personalized services, and helps with more efficient decision-making or production. However, data aggregation is the only way to build powerful AI. In other words, the pouring of massive personal information is the basis for building a customized AI. In this process, users cannot guarantee data privacy, data usage rights, individual bias, Centralized monopoly and other issues.
At this time, as a decentralized distributed ledger, Crypto combines distributed storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanism, cryptography and other technologies. Its characteristics of non-tampering, transparency, security and programmability can not only resist data fraud and abuse , and can achieve a fairer distribution of value on the premise of openness and transparency.
In a sense, AI and Crypto have a complementary relationship: AI represents the most advanced productivity at present and can bring better services to users; Crypto represents the fairest production relationship at present and can promote the formation of a better social network. Fair value flow and circulation. The combination of the two will not only greatly improve the user experience, but also lead the change and development of the industry.
Since the integration of AI + Crypto can generate huge value, what is the current development status of the AI + Crypto track?
The previous article "Panorama Guide to the Crypto AI Track: Overview of AI Business Classifications and Encryption Projects Worth Watching" compiled by TechFlow detailed the business types and potential projects of AI + Crypto. After carefully reading this article, we can find:
Although the AI + Crypto track covers multiple sectors such as computing power, algorithms and models, and data, and has also given birth to popular community projects such as Bittensor, Autonolas, and Render Network, there are not many projects that truly focus on specific application scenarios and emphasize product experience. See.
Image source: TechFlow
This phenomenon is not difficult to understand: on the one hand, in order to take advantage of the popularity of AI, there are also some "stitch monster" projects concocted overnight on the track, which not only homogenize but also affect the user's perception; on the other hand, although there are also more outstanding projects on the track, The leading project in the industry, but whether it is AI or Crypto, there is a high threshold for understanding and participation. In addition, the current integration of AI and Crypto is still in a very early stage. Some projects focus on AI but not on Crypto, and some focus on AI. Crypto is light on AI, and there are few projects that deeply integrate AI and take into account the decentralization concept of Crypto.
But the lack of choices does not mean that users are not paying attention. Combined with the impressive data above that the number of registered users of CharacterX App exceeded 600,000, we can get a closer look: in terms of the deep integration of AI and Crypto, the community has high hopes for the social track.
First of all, social interaction is a high-frequency necessity of human nature: humans are social creatures and need the emotion of mutual support. In social products, people’s desire for expression, sharing and display can be fully satisfied;
Secondly, the threshold for social understanding and participation is relatively low, and the experience is the most intuitive: users do not even need to spend a lot of energy learning the basic concepts of AI and Crypto. They can seamlessly switch from Web2 to Web3 by just registering, sharing, and talking, and feel intuitively The efficiency and decentralization advantages of the product after integrating AI and Crypto.
The most important thing is that strong demand + low threshold + good experience can attract a large influx of incremental users from Web2: in the continuous cycle of user experience → product optimization, the AI + Crypto track has grown rapidly.
To sum up, social networking can be said to be an excellent entry point for AI + Crypto to integrate and be adopted on a large scale. In this track with huge potential, CharacterX can stand out as a rookie. In addition to the popularity of the track, it is also inseparable from the project's strong strength in the AI direction and precise considerations in the Crypto field.
Aiming at the social track: deepening emotional connections and developing AI best friends
CharacterX aims to create a Decentralized Synthetic Social Network: Decentralized refers to the use of a decentralized way to store the identity and information of AI to facilitate user access and use; Synthetic means that humans and AI are important nodes, jointly building the entire network ; Social expresses purpose and helps humans establish connections, which is also one of the most fundamental needs of humans; Network is the definition. CharacterX is not just a platform or application, but a cyber social network that everyone can participate in and build. network.
Specifically, CharacterX allows creators to create AI characters: these AI characters can be classic images from their favorite movies, TV shows, and literary works, or they can be the projection of the creator himself in the virtual world. In fact, more than half of the current 600,000 users choose to build AI characters in CharacterX based on personal information, expressing themselves while finding like-minded friends to establish social connections with more people.
In terms of interaction, users can choose and interact with AI characters based on their own preferences, or they can choose Story gameplay to interact with AI characters in specific story scenes. It is reported that CharacterX will soon launch interactive modes such as stranger matching and community to bring users a more immersive social experience. In addition, interactive content can provide the underlying AI model with continuous training, helping the AI character continue to grow in a personalized direction.
In addition, in the App version 2.4.0 updated last week, CharacterX also launched a badge system, designed to encourage users to obtain three types of badges by exploring App features: social masters, active contributors and creative geniuses. Badges are not only an interpretation of the user's personality and recognition of behavior, but also can earn more points and accumulate more airdrop chips.
CharacterX takes "decentralized AI entertainment social network" as its long-term development vision. Since it is targeting the social track, CharacterX has understood from the beginning: social products are born to meet people's emotional needs, and their success is inseparable from users' emotional projection. .
Therefore, compared with the already very mature conversational tool AI on the market (such as ChatGPT), CharacterX is unique in that:
In terms of product design: more emphasis is placed on the social attributes of the product, focusing on building an AI social network through functions such as character interaction, stranger matching, and community, deepening the emotional connection between users and characters, users and creators, and providing users with all-round emotions value.
In terms of product experience: Introduce multi-sensory technologies such as voice, pictures, 3D, and AR to create a lifelike AI life, create an immersive user experience, and optimize the quality of AI character companionship.
In terms of community content atmosphere: Compared with film and television characters or two-dimensional paper figures, users’ creative intentions are more inclined to reflect their self-image in the AI world, and they also prefer to interact with more “real” AI characters. At present, a large number of users have created AI characters based on their real identities, and are trying to gradually establish their own social networks through communication and interaction.
In terms of decentralization: Character In one's own hands; on the other hand, combining the open source of the basic model and DSO (decentralized social organization) public governance and other initiatives to achieve the decentralization of users' core identity information, identity data and memory, and give users the right to participate in ecological governance .
Image source: Apple Store CharacterX page screenshot
If ChatGPT is a robot butler without any emotions, CharacterX is more like an AI best friend with an image, voice, and personality that is specially created for you.
Of course, a good experience requires solid technical strength. CharacterX itself has multiple advantages in deeply integrating AI to create a better experience:
First of all, CharacterX founder Rene is from Stanford University. A good educational background not only helps them use their keen market sense to control the development direction of the project, but also helps the project connect with top resources from Stanford University.
On February 22, 2024, CharacterX officially announced that it has become a partner of the Stanford University Blockchain Accelerator. The professional guidance from Stanford University will help CharacterX better leverage its technical advantages and jointly create a more influential social experience. In the future, the two will work together to promote the integration and innovation of AI and blockchain technology.
Image source: Twitter @CharacterXAI
In addition to the founder, most of the other CharacterX team members also graduated from prestigious universities such as the University of Chicago and Peking University, or have worked in companies and projects such as Meta, TikTok, Tencent, and NEO, and have worked in social products, Crypto development, AI applications, and It has deep technical strength and rich product experience in 3D modeling and other aspects. Previously, the team also launched a 3D AR girlfriend product overseas and received good response. A strong team background is the guarantee for the stable and good operation of the project. According to the CharacterX team, the core members of the team have previously launched a social product in the North American market with over 100 million users.
At a time when AI has become the focus of the 2024 narrative, there are a large number of users, institutions, and funds in the encryption market hungry for high-quality projects. CharacterX has also won the favor of many VCs with its exquisite product design and strong team background. In January this year, CharacterX announced the completion of a new round of financing of US$2.3 million at a valuation of US$30 million, with Lightspeed, INCE Capital and Spark Digital Capital co-leading the investment.
Image source: CharacterX Medium
Currently, CharacterX has released a beta version of the app on iOS and Android, and users can easily install the app through the Apple Store or Google Play. In terms of functionality, currently users can log in using their Google account and earn points by checking in, inviting friends, and interacting with AI characters. It is worth noting that currently users can interact with AI characters through text and voice. Although the characters currently do not show many personalized characteristics, considering that the project is still in its infancy and the project team has great experience in 3D, AI, etc. With its profound strength, I believe that with the deepening of character training and the improvement of product functions, the character image will be richer and fuller.
Dual-token incentive model around character NFT: Chat to get CXT airdrop
Based on the advantages of AI, CharacterX also demonstrates the project's recognition and understanding of the concept of decentralization by integrating Crypto gameplay:
In the design of CharacterX, all AI characters exist in the form of NFT based on ERC-6551: The non-fungible and unique characteristics of NFT perfectly match the customized needs of AI characters. In addition, the NFT advocated by ERC-6551 is the wallet concept, ERC -6551 will support the current ERC 721 NFT to create a smart contract wallet account and use the NFT as its on-chain identity wallet account. The NFT account can contain multiple wallet addresses, held NFTs and ERC 20 tokens, etc., making NFT To become a true on-chain identity account representative, the above characteristics are further consistent with the social track that CharacterX focuses on.
In addition, CharacterX also adopts a dual-token model design:
CXC: System utility token, which users can obtain by checking in, inviting friends, etc. after installing the App. In addition, users need to spend CXC to talk and interact with the created AI characters.
CXT: Currently exists in the form of App points, which users can obtain by interacting with AI characters. In the future, CXT will exist as the governance token of CharacterX after TGE.
It is worth mentioning that in order to encourage user participation, CharacterX will conduct multiple rounds of airdrops in the future. The more CXT points accumulated by users currently, the more airdrop shares they can obtain in the future.
Breaking out of the traditional social economic model design framework, under the design of NFT and dual-token models, and focusing on the three major participants of Creators (Creators/KOLs), consumers (Consumers) and investors (Shareholders), CharacterX relies on Crypto to build A fair, transparent, stable and win-win revenue cycle mechanism is on paper:
Image source: CharacterX
Creator ⇆ Consumer: The creator creates an AI character NFT, and the consumer pays CXC to interact with the AI character and enjoy character services. Consumers receive CXT rewards through interaction; in addition to Mint rewards, creators can also formulate economic strategies for their AI characters, such as interaction fees, investment dividends, etc., through continuous training, polishing, promotion of their AI characters and optimization of the economy Strategies provide continuous returns.
Creator ⇆ Investors: Creators create, train, and promote AI character NFTs, and investors can support creators by purchasing NFT fan tokens. Creators can face fans directly and obtain a fairer and more stable return of value. As fans, investors can gain income through the appreciation of fan tokens on the one hand; on the other hand, they can also gain income through creator dividends.
Consumer ⇆ Investor: Consumers pay CXC to interact with the AI characters created by the creator and receive CXT rewards through the interaction. The creator can use part of the proceeds as dividends to feed back to his fans (investors).
The virtuous cycle economic model design, in line with the upcoming airdrop expectations in the first quarter of 2024, Character Its social media subscribers continue to rise, and the size and activity of its community are also increasing. It is worth noting that in the early days of the app’s launch, CharacterX has achieved a stable revenue of US$50,000 per month, which is very rare among projects in the same track at the same time.
Image source: Twitter @CharacterXAI
It is true that as a newcomer, CharacterX has already achieved outstanding results, and with the implementation of more project milestones in 2024, the project will usher in a new round of rapid development.
Facing the future: multiple milestones achieved
Currently, the project has released a beta version of the App with artificial intelligence social interaction and creation functions. Creators can create customized AI characters by editing character information, adding voice clones, question and answer materials, advanced definitions and other functions. Consumers can also interact with these Created characters to interact with.
In the first quarter of 2024, which is about to end, in order to further achieve deeper emotional connections, multi-dimensional sensory experiences, and interactions that are not limited by time and space, the CharacterX team will focus on SDID (Synthetic Decentralized Identifier) as the cornerstone. AI synthetic network: SDID is derived from the ERC-6551 concept, which can further improve privacy protection and interoperability across ecosystems and platforms, laying the foundation for the sustainable development of AI synthetic networks.
In addition, the most eye-catching project trend in the upcoming March is the airdrop: currently, users can earn CXT points in the CharacterX App by creating characters, interacting with characters, inviting friends, etc. This gameplay is similar to Active The concept of to Earn: the more actively a user participates and the more points they collect, the greater the airdrop rewards they will receive in the future. At that time, CharacterX will announce the airdrop details on its official website and social media platforms. Interested friends can pay attention and bet on potential projects in popular AI tracks at no cost, and may be able to reap surprises in this bull market.
In the future, with the continuous advancement of the project roadmap and the iteration of multiple versions of the App, Character Functions such as group play and blue-chip NFT communities further deepen the social connections between participants.
Image source: CharacterX official website
To sum up Character No matter what cycle it is in, it can be said to be a potential track that everyone wants to take a piece of. Coupled with the popular AI concept and the advantages of Crypto integrating a fair and transparent economic incentive model, for a project, any Just pick it out and it can be used as the main narrative.
What’s even more commendable is that CharacterX integrates these three narratives naturally and skillfully: on the one hand, relying on its strong team and technical advantages, it introduces multi-sensory technologies such as 3D and AR, making the project stand out in terms of product experience; on the other hand, it introduces ERC-6551's NFT and dual-token economic model design revitalize the originally static project ecology, and the incentive mechanism that benefits every participant ensures the sustainable development of the project system.
character The average daily duration is worth looking forward to the market growth and product explosion after the on-chain deployment. Web3 needs such solid products to connect and interoperate with the Web2 world.
Although the current integration of AI + Crypto is still in a very early stage, the emergence of products like CharacterX that have both the quality of traditional AI projects and the decentralized attitude of Crypto is enough to make people look forward to AI + Crypto in this bull market. Development in specific application scenarios.
There is no doubt that AI + Crypto has become an investment target not to be missed in 2024 in the eyes of many people. With the positive blessings of airdrop expectations and the implementation of various milestones, in the face of market opportunities and challenges, we look forward to CharacterX and the entire industry in 2024. A brilliant performance on the AI + Crypto track.
