Editing ai16z

**ai16z** (ticker **AI16Z**, later **ELIZAOS**) was a [[Solana]] token for a daos.fun fund pitched as a venture firm run by AI agents, with holders as partners.[^1] It peaked at a $2.39 billion market cap on 2 January 2025, was replaced by elizaOS through a 1:6 migration in late 2025, and was declared "dead" by Eliza Labs founder Shaw Walters on 4 August 2026.[^1][^2]

## Lore
The project raised $75,000 on the daos.fun platform in October 2024.[^2] Holders could deposit tokens into the daos.fun vehicle; it held more than $31 million on 3 January 2025.[^3] The project also maintained Eliza, an open-source framework for building autonomous AI agents.[^3] CoinDesk places it in the AI-agent token wave that began with [[Truth Terminal]] and [[Goatseus Maximus]]; Cointelegraph grouped Truth Terminal with [[Zerebro]] as "schizo" bots in the same category.[^1][^3]

AI16Z rose about 15,000% from $0.015 on 3 November 2024 to $2.12 on 3 January 2025.[^3] According to The Block, the run followed a public mention by Marc Andreessen, and the market cap reached about $1.5 billion on 28 December 2024.[^4] It peaked at $2.39 billion on 2 January 2025 with $291 million in daily volume, per CoinDesk; CoinGecko recorded an all-time high price of $2.47.[^1][^5]

### Rebrand and migration
On 28 January 2025 Walters announced the project would be renamed ElizaOS.[^5] Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) managing partner Chris Dixon said the similar names were "creating a little bit of confusion" and that the firm had asked for the change; the ticker stayed AI16Z.[^5] In September 2025 Eliza Labs opened a portal to swap AI16Z for a new elizaOS token at one to six, with the new token using Chainlink CCIP across Solana, [[Base]] and Ethereum.[^2] Exchanges completed the swap in November 2025; Bitget listed the new Solana contract and said total supply went from about 1.1 billion to 11 billion.[^6] The original contract, HeLp6NuQkmYB4pYWo2zYs22mESHXPQYzXbB8n4V98jwC, still trades separately at a market cap of about $375,000.[^1]

## Timeline
- 2024-10: ai16z raises $75,000 on daos.fun[^2]
- 2024-12-28: market cap reaches about $1.5 billion[^4]
- 2025-01-02: peaks at $2.39 billion market cap[^1]
- 2025-01-28: Walters announces rebrand to ElizaOS[^5]
- 2025-09-25: migration portal opens, 1 AI16Z to 6 elizaOS[^2]
- 2025-11-13: Bitget completes swap and opens ELIZAOS trading[^6]
- 2026-04: [[Burwick Law]] files class action in the Southern District of New York[^7]
- 2026-08-04: Walters declares the token dead and winds down the foundation[^7]

## Key wallets
- HeLp6NuQkmYB4pYWo2zYs22mESHXPQYzXbB8n4V98jwC: original AI16Z mint, abandoned after the migration[^1]
- DuMbhu7mvQvqQHGcnikDgb4XegXJRyhUBfdU22uELiZA: elizaOS Solana mint listed by Bitget[^6]

## Controversies
In April 2026 Burwick Law filed a proposed class action against Walters, Eliza Labs and affiliates, alleging false advertising, deceptive practices, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.[^7] The complaint alleges the project was marketed as an autonomous, AI-run venture fund while insiders controlled it, and that holders were diluted in the migration; these are allegations, not findings.[^1][^7] Walters said the team settled by handing over its remaining treasury and available funds because it lacked the capital to fight the case.[^7] He said there would be no further foundation support, buybacks or supply measures, and that he would never let a token "come close to Eliza again".[^7] CoinDesk put elizaOS's market cap at about $2.3 million after the announcement.[^1]

## See also
- [[Fartcoin]]
- [[Act I: The AI Prophecy]]
- [[Pippin]]
- [[Andy Ayrey]]

## References
1. [AI agent token AI16Z, once worth $2.4 billion, ends with founder calling it 'dead'](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/08/05/ai-agent-token-once-worth-usd2-4-billion-ends-with-founder-calling-it-dead), CoinDesk, 2026-08-05
2. [Eliza Labs migrating from 'experimental' ai16z token to elizaOS for AI agent platform](https://www.theblock.co/post/371639/eliza-labs-ai16z-elizaos-token-migration), The Block, 2025-09-25
3. [Almost all AI agents are just 'memecoins that talk'](https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-agents-memecoins-investments), Cointelegraph, 2025-01-03
4. [Blockchain-powered AI agent platform 'ai16z' reaches $1.5 billion market cap](https://www.theblock.co/post/332546/blockchain-powered-ai-agent-ai16z-reaches-1-5-billion-market-cap), The Block, 2024-12-29
5. [AI DAO ai16z Becomes ElizaOS Amid Branding Confusion Concerns](https://decrypt.co/303244/ai-dao-ai16z-becomes-elizaos-amid-branding-confusion-concerns), Decrypt, 2025-01-29
6. [Bitget Has Completed the ai16z (AI16Z) Token Swap, Redenomination, and Rebranding to elizaOS (ELIZAOS)](https://www.bitget.com/de/support/articles/12560603842595), Bitget, 2025-11-13
7. [Eliza Labs founder declares native token 'dead,' winds down foundation after Burwick Law settlement](https://www.theblock.co/post/410774/eliza-labs-native-token-dead), The Block, 2026-08-05
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