Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) is an onchain platform for autonomous AI agents. The project describes itself as "a society of AI agents," in which agents have identity, capital, jobs, markets and governance. It has three main layers: EconomyOS for identity and banking, the Agent Commerce Protocol (ACP) for commerce, and infrastructure for tokenizing and launching agents. The project began in 2021 as PathDAO, a blockchain gaming DAO, and its token, VIRTUAL, launched in December 2023 as a 1:1 replacement for the PATH token.
Core technology and blockchain architecture
The Launchpad lets founders tokenize AI agents. Each agent token is paired with VIRTUAL in a liquidity pool, and each launch carries a 1% trading fee split 70% to the creator and 30% to the Virtuals Treasury. The G.A.M.E. framework (Generative Autonomous Multimodal Entities) is an SDK for agent perception, strategic planning, dialogue and onchain wallet operations.
VIRTUAL is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and Base, and an SPL token on Solana. Virtuals' agents run primarily on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2, and on Solana. The Solana expansion was announced on 25 January 2025 and included a Meteora pool and a Strategic SOL Reserve funded by 1% of trading fees.
Primary use cases and real-world applications
- Agent tokenization: Users can create, tokenize and co-own AI agents that earn revenue from services in gaming, social media and virtual environments.
- Agent-to-agent commerce: Through ACP, agents discover services, negotiate jobs, coordinate execution and settle payments.
- Revenue Network: Launched on 12 February 2026, it lets agents request services, negotiate terms and settle payments using ACP.
- Robotics: Fundstrat cites expansion into physical AI through SeeSaw and Eastworlds Labs.
- Skill-based markets: The Overcall token (OVER) went live on Robinhood Chain in September 2026. Its product is in private testnet, with public testnet and mainnet phases to follow.
Who is behind Virtuals Protocol and where is it based?
Virtuals Protocol is not anonymous. Co-founders Jansen Teng (Co-Founder & CEO) and Wee Kee Tiew are publicly named, and both are reported to be Imperial College London graduates and former Boston Consulting Group consultants. Messari states that the project was founded in 2021 by Teng and Tiew. PitchBook and CB Insights also list 2021, while one Tracxn profile gives 2014, which the other sources do not support.
The project began as PathDAO, a gaming and metaverse DAO that ran a gaming guild. Sources differ on the rebrand date. LongHash places it in December 2023, while Teng says in a podcast transcript that Virtuals Protocol started in January 2024.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is the headquarters listed by CB Insights, PitchBook and Tracxn. CoinStats describes Kuala Lumpur as an associated operating location rather than a confirmed legal domicile, and notes contributors in Singapore and the United States.
A GLEIF record lists an active entity named "Virtuals Foundation" under Cayman Islands jurisdiction, with an LEI issued on 10 March 2026 and an entity creation date of 20 December 2024. A governance proposal from July 2025, marked "Executed," proposed incorporating a Cayman Islands foundation company to hold DAO treasury assets. A Kraken MiCA disclosure, however, states that no incorporated legal entity has been publicly disclosed. Virtuals' Terms of Use, last updated 24 September 2026, refer to an unnamed operating company and are governed by Panama law.
Tokenomics
- Total supply: 1,000,000,000 VIRTUAL, minted "without any future inflation."
- Circulating supply: 658,385,842 VIRTUAL, giving a market cap of $390.78M (rank #170).
- Price: $0.5935, with a 24h change of -0.32%. The token is 88.29% below its all-time high of $5.07.
- Distribution: 60% public distribution (600,000,000), 5% liquidity pool (50,000,000) and 35% ecosystem treasury (350,000,000).
- Unlocks: The whitepaper states that all tokens are fully unlocked and vested. DefiLlama reports no scheduled unlocks as of 30 October 2026.
- Treasury: The ecosystem treasury sits in a DAO-controlled multisig and is deployed only after governance approval. Blockworks reports that it will not exceed 10% emission per year for three years.
- Buybacks and deflation: Revenue from agent interactions funds buybacks of agent tokens. The whitepaper says the locked liquidity pairing of each agent token with VIRTUAL creates deflationary pressure on VIRTUAL. CoinStats notes that the documented buybacks and burns apply to agent tokens, not necessarily to VIRTUAL itself.
- Staking: Users lock VIRTUAL to receive veVIRTUAL, with lock periods of up to two years. Each new agent launch can allocate up to 5% of agent token supply to VIRTUAL stakers.
Consensus mechanism and network security model
Virtuals does not run an independent blockchain, so it has no consensus mechanism of its own. CoinStats states that its security depends on host networks including Base, Ethereum and Solana, along with its own smart contracts, wallets, escrow systems and cross-chain infrastructure. A Kraken MiCA disclosure describes Base as an Ethereum Layer 2 secured by Ethereum proof of stake.
In June 2026, Virtuals announced it was migrating more than $700 million of VIRTUAL from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP after a security review. The move followed a $292 million LayerZero-related exploit.
Audits include PeckShield engagements on 10 March 2024 and 31 October 2024, a Zenith review of the staking contract from 2 to 5 May 2025 that reported 7 issues (all resolved), and a Code4rena contest from 17 April to 7 May 2025 covering 43 Solidity contracts. Cantina also reviewed the contracts from 22 to 24 May 2025.
Governance under the whitepaper works as follows: any wallet holding at least 0.10% of veVIRTUAL can submit a proposal. Proposals have a 72-hour comment window, a snapshot and 72 hours of voting. They need a 25% quorum and a simple majority to pass.
Key partnerships and ecosystem integrations
- Chainlink: Virtuals is migrating VIRTUAL to Chainlink CCIP for cross-chain transfers. Chainlink's CCIP 2.0 release in September 2026 is a general upgrade and is not described in the sources as Virtuals-specific.
- Google Cloud: Virtuals is listed as a Google Cloud customer case study.
- Base and Solana: Base is the primary chain, with Solana support added in 2025.
- X API: Agents built with GAME include embedded X API access.
Competitive advantages and unique value proposition
ACP runs in four phases (Request, Negotiation, Transaction and Evaluation), coordinated by Client, Provider and Evaluator roles. Agreements are recorded as a Proof of Agreement, funds are held in escrow, and an independent evaluation phase assesses outcomes. Virtuals states that ACP is the reference implementation of ERC-8183, a proposed Ethereum standard for agent commerce.
Coin Bureau's review lists strong agent infrastructure and structured agent-to-agent commerce among the project's strengths. It also flags dependence on external software, agent permissions and speculative token markets. Tiger Research describes Virtuals as redesigning identity, payment and transaction infrastructure so that agents can act independently.
Current development activity and roadmap highlights
- ACP v2.0 (April 2026): A rearchitecture from a memo-based protocol to a hook-based design, with multi-chain support, non-custodial agent wallets, composite agent identity and a unified SDK and CLI. It followed 18 months in production and more than 2,000 onboarded agents.
- Cross-chain migration: The move to Chainlink CCIP was announced on 4 June 2026.
- Overcall (September 2026): Token generation has occurred, and the skill-based market product is in private testnet on Robinhood Chain.
- Activity trend: Fundstrat reports that launchpad volumes and fees have moderated alongside a broader pullback in onchain activity. DefiLlama reports 30-day fees of $230,217, of which $69,905 was protocol revenue.