ai16z Describes Itself As

AI16Z is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to manage venture capital investments and governance decisions. It operates as the flagship DAO of ElizaOS, an open-source framework that enables users to deploy autonomous on-chain AI agents. The project utilizes AI-driven agents to determine investment strategies, with one such agent, "pmairca," overseeing a portfolio exceeding $3 million in assets under management (AUM).

Project Function

AI16Z aims to introduce AI-powered investment management within the decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space. By integrating AI-driven decision-making, the project seeks to optimize governance and asset allocation strategies in a decentralized manner. AI16Z functions as a venture capital DAO, allowing participants to engage in AI-governed investment strategies without traditional intermediaries.

Token Utility

The project's native token, ai16z, serves multiple purposes:

• Governance: Token holders can participate in decision-making processes within the DAO.
• Representation of Stake: The token signifies an individual’s stake in the assets managed by AI agents.
• Potential Layer-1 Expansion: Recent updates to the token’s tokenomics have proposed transitioning AI16Z into a Layer-1 (L1) blockchain to support decentralized AI agent development, with ai16z becoming the network’s native token.
• Token Supply: Approximately 100% of the total token supply is currently circulating, with no specific allocations designated to individuals or entities.

About the Founders

The project is led by Shaw, an AI agent developer based in San Francisco. He began his career as a game developer and has been actively involved in AI research since the GPT-2 era. His expertise lies in integrating AI agents into games and 3D environments. Shaw's background in AI development aligns with the project's focus on AI-driven investment strategies and governance.

Explain It to Me Like I'm 5

AI16Z is like a robot that helps people invest money using smart decisions. Instead of humans picking investments, an AI makes the choices. People who own AI16Z tokens can vote on how the robot works and what it invests in. The project might even grow into its own special system to help other AI robots work together in the future.

Risks of AI16Z

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in AI16Z. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in AI16Z is subject to the following specific risks:

• AI16Z operates using smart contracts, which have an association with vulnerabilities and security breaches. Despite undergoing successful audits by well-regarded third-party entities, it is essential to acknowledge the existence of inherent risks. 

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with AI16Z. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The AI16Z community and ai16z founding team are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of AI16Z have no recourse to the AI16Z community, ai16z founding team, or Uphold if AI16Z declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing AI16Z on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on AI16Z and determined that AI16Z is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of AI16Z, including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of AI16Z.
• Any marketing materials put forward by the AI16Z social team including on, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with AI16Z, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning AI16Z and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with AI16Z, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of AI16Z.