AI Threatens To Overrun $2T Crypto Industry, Justin Sun Warns

• Tron founder Justin Sun discussed AI’s growing role in the crypto industry.
• Sun warned that AI agents could replace venture capitalists and investors.
• He cautioned that a large-scale hack of AI agents could signal the market’s peak.

Tron (TRON) founder Justin Sun recently shared his thoughts on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the crypto industry during a podcast with influencer Mario Nawfal.

As we continue to push the boundaries of AI capabilities, Sun cautions that it could significantly disrupt traditional roles within crypto, particularly those of investors and venture capitalists.

Sun’s prediction: The rise of AI agents—artificially intelligent entities programmed to create, trade and manage digital assets—could reshape the way crypto operates. In fact, he believes AI will dominate the next major bull cycle, particularly in 2025.

Replacing VCs and Investors

Sun noted that the surge in AI’s influence on crypto has already led to AI agents launching and trading tokens. These agents are programmed to deploy capital based on market trends, possibly replacing human VCs and traditional investors, in the near future.

“AI will take over many things,” Sun said, referencing the growing role of AI in token creation and portfolio management. “AI agents could take over all trading strategies, even on-chain trading.”

He warned, however, that these AI agents could quickly become more powerful and intelligent, making them increasingly integral to the crypto landscape.

Yet, Sun cautioned that this technological evolution is precarious. A single hack could set off a chain reaction, causing massive disruptions.

A Vulnerable Ecosystem: The Risk of AI Hacking

Sun likened the AI agent trend to the early days of decentralized finance (DeFi), a space known for its promise and vulnerability.

He explained that while AI agents operate on sound data models, they are still susceptible to manipulation. For example, he cited a recent incident, where an AI agent, Freysa, was tricked into sending its treasury funds based on deceptive prompts.

“I believe we will see a time when AI hacks AI,” Sun shared. This could trigger a catastrophic event in the crypto market, with the theft or manipulation of funds by AI agents potentially causing an unprecedented collapse in the market.

“We will reach a time when AI will trick AI or AI will hack AI. It will likely happen sometime in the future. We will see a time when AI agents gain enough trust to build an ecosystem into billions and traders and institutions pouring millions for the agent to trade. Finally, we will see a catastrophic event where a mainstream AI agent is hacked, and everything crashes,” Sun warned.

Past Cycles and the Evolution of Crypto Trends

Every major crypto bull cycle has brought with it a dominant trend that eventually signals the market’s peak.

In 2017, it was initial coin offerings (ICOs); in 2021, NFTs and the metaverse took center stage . Sun believes the 2025 bull cycle will see AI agents and meme coins emerge as the defining trends.

However, as Sun observed, the crypto market often goes too far in embracing these trends, which can result in overhyped, unsustainable market behaviors.

He pointed to the ICO craze of 2017-2018, when projects raised billions of dollars, many of which ultimately failed.

Similarly, the 2021 NFT boom, while initially promising, became increasingly speculative, with influencers pushing absurdly priced digital items like doodles and JPEG images of rocks.

Caution Amidst Innovation

Despite his concerns about the overhyped nature of the AI agent trend, Sun acknowledged the technological advancements at play.

He believes AI’s role in the crypto space will continue to grow and evolve, even if the current trend risks a similar fate to past speculative bubbles.

As Sun put it, while investors should be cautious of the speculative frenzy surrounding new trends, the technology itself holds great potential.

The future of crypto, he said, lies in the maturation of these technologies, but their development must be watched carefully to avoid the pitfalls of past cycles.