AI agent token once worth $2.4 billion ends with founder calling it dead
Eliza Labs founder Shaw Walters said the ELIZAOS foundation is closing and holders should sell, ending the token that replaced AI16Z after a lawsuit, rebrand and 97% crash.
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Summary
- Shaw Walters, founder of Eliza Labs, declared the ELIZAOS token “completely” dead, said its foundation is closing and urged holders to sell, while vowing to keep building the underlying software without a new token.
- ELIZAOS, which replaced the once–$2.4 billion AI16Z token, has fallen about 97% from its peak to a roughly $2.3 million market value amid litigation and a settlement that drained the foundation’s remaining treasury.
- A proposed class action in federal court accuses the project of misleading investors about being an autonomous, AI-run venture fund and diluting holders during the AI16Z-to-ELIZAOS migration, highlighting the broader rise and unraveling of AI agent–themed crypto tokens.
ELIZAOS trades near $0.00031 with a market cap of about $2.3 million, down 97% from its high. AI16Z, the token it replaced through a migration, peaked at $2.39 billion on Jan. 2, 2025, when daily volume reached $291 million. CoinGecko still lists the abandoned AI16Z contract separately, with a market cap of roughly $375,000 as of early US hours.
Walters pinned the shutdown on litigation. He said the foundation transferred its remaining treasury and available funds to settle with a group of holders represented by Burwick Law.
