DeFAI: Onchain Agent Terminals

Background

DeFAI products represent the next evolution of automated DeFi trading, building on the proven success of Telegram DEX trading bots, which have generated upwards of $1 billion in lifetime category revenue by charging ~1% fees on trading volumes. These bots have effectively monetized traders' pursuit of asymmetric returns on low-cap tokens, with platforms like Banana Gun achieving near half billion dollar valuations. The recent Trump token launch led to a dramatic increase in trading bot volumes, yet recent months have seen daily trading volumes regularly in excess of $400 million for the category.

DeFAI expands the Telegram trading bot model beyond simple token swaps to encompass the full spectrum of DeFi activities - from liquidity provision and lending to perpetual futures and NFT trading. The key innovation is abstracting complex multi-step processes through LLM chat interfaces, enabled by agent-controlled embedded wallets that can execute transactions on users' behalf. This reduces multi-signature workflows to simple request-and-confirm interactions.

ChatGPT-like homepage for Orbit; similar designs employed by many in the category. (Source)

Revenue opportunities mirror existing DEX bot models but extend across all DeFi verticals. Beyond trading fees, DeFAI platforms can capture value from lending interest (similar to Morpho Vaults), LP fees, and cross-chain bridging services. The LLM integration also serves as intelligent support, translating technical errors into actionable guidance - for instance, explaining high slippage issues and suggesting remedies like order size adjustments.