$AO Ecosystem Guide 🐘
Now is the best time to dive into @aoTheComputer as the mainnet is LIVE.

In this research of $AO you'll find:
• network overview and tokenomics,
• interesting projects and the Best $AO Smarts,
• additional articles and Moni's opinion ofc

Let's go👇
This guide is prepared for you by @miguelrare.
Big shout-out to this CHAD💜

Brief Overview

$AO is the new L1 blockchain launched recently, and so far, there are almost no projects live on the mainnet. However, within the next month, some of them are likely to go live. Right now, it's a great opportunity to start farming the best tokens from native $AO protocols.

What is the $AO Network?

$AO is a hyper-parallel decentralized computer, launched by the @ArweaveEco team and designed for efficient scaling through parallel data processing. Since February 2024, the network has been in Testnet, allowing anyone to deposit stETH/DAI/AR to farm the initial $AO tokens, which only recently became transferable in early February 2025.

There are many other aspects to mention, such as interaction with Arweave data storage, but we know degens don’t really care about that. So, it's better to add just one key point:

*The entire network and ecosystem are built around AI and Agents, which was the market’s hottest narrative not too long ago*

Tokenomics & $AO Farming

What stands out the most right away is the token distribution, as $AO is 100% community-owned — not a single token allocated to the team, VCs, or anyone else.
Essentially, the team took inspiration from Bitcoin and launched in a similar way, only modifying the token distribution mechanism.
Since February of last year, people could deposit stETH, DAI, or $AR into pools that generated a certain APY. In turn, the team used these funds to develop the product, eliminating the need for additional VC funding.

If we look at $AO’s utility, the main idea, as usual, revolves around staking, incentivizing network participants, and one standout feature — a customizable security level for each transaction.

Since the network has just launched and the launch itself wasn’t exactly smooth — most of the features mentioned above are not live yet.

As of now, post-launch, people can still deposit their $AR, stETH, or DAI into pools and earn new $AO tokens. But now, we have a new update:
Permaweb Index
Now, in addition to farming the $AO token, users can also farm other tokens from ecosystem projects. This allows them to support and finance other teams using $AO, which is earned through deposited assets. This introduces an interesting new mechanism for token launches and distribution. Essentially, every project on the list could issue its own token without requiring additional funding, team/advisor allocations, or other traditional distribution methods.

If each project follows $AO’s example, we could see multiple key launches with 100% community-owned tokens. However, this raises another question: will the funding generated solely through $AO token redistribution be sufficient for every protocol? And will users find it worthwhile to deposit their assets to farm tokens from the Permaweb Index?
Important note:
Farming ecosystem tokens will be available starting March 14, 2025. For now, users can only farm AO.

Ecosystem

The $AO Ecosystem looks quite large, but most protocols have yet to launch on Mainnet. Soon, the core projects will go live and provide all the essential documentation for teams looking to migrate their contracts from Testnet to Mainnet.

Below, you'll find reviews of the most interesting projects from each narrative.
Top 3 main apps

1/ @Permaswap

Permaswap is a main DEX on the $AO Network, where users can already trade the $AO token in pairs with wAR/wUSDC.

2/ @usewander

The main wallet for the AR/AO network.
Honestly, did not have a great user experience with it. When connecting the wallet to dApps, constantly had to re-enter the password and sign unclear messages.

If not for these issues, everything else would be great.

3/ @aox_xyz

The main bridge supporting Ethereum, BSC, Arweave, and AO.

NFTs + GameFi

1/ @dumdumznfts

The most popular OG collection on Arweave.
Total Supply: 1984
Floor Price: 20 $AR

Most active product developers on AO/AR use these NFTs as their PFPs.

Additionally, the collection’s founder recently mentioned in Discord that holders should expect multiple airdrops from $AO ecosystem protocols.

2/ @OurBazAR

Bazar is the only NFT marketplace on $AR that has been running for quite a while.

However, aside from the DumDumz collection, there isn’t much that truly stands out.

3/ @ThePermaverse

It is the first full web3 metaverse, gaming hub and launchpad. With their $AO Unity SDK, any developer will be able to start building their decentralized games.

Other projects worth mentioning:

NFTs
@orbitheducky
@Meka_Human

GameFi
@StarGridBattle
@basejumpxyz

DeFi + AI

1/ @autonomous_af

Botega is a DEX on the $AO Network that supports Uniswap V2-V3 models as well as an on-chain order book.
The most interesting part is that Botega also enables market making through an autonomous agent system and liquidity distribution without user involvement.
Users will be able to farm it on the $AO website from March.

2/ @apus_network

Apus is a platform for creating and deploying AI agents that use powerful GPUs for training on Arweave and performing specified tasks.
Additionally, the platform has its own token, which is based on the $AO token launch model. It is almost 100% community-owned, with a small exception: 1% will go to liquidity, and 7% will go to the ecosystem. The remaining supply is intended for the community, and currently, the token can be farmed using stETH/DAI.

The team promised to add liquidity on a DEX on $AO after the mainnet launch, so we will likely be able to trade this token soon.

Other projects worth mentioning:

• @AgentBotega
• @FusionFiPro
• @ObtimusAI
• @Lagent_AO

$AO Smart accounts to follow:

• @Crypto_Cherie
• @JonnyRingo711
• @_simonfriend
• @allquantor
• @samecwilliams
• @0xinternetchild
• @kylewmi
• @outprog_ar

Good threads/Useful Links

• Why you should be excited about $AO https://t.co/mGhscVO8kh
• $AO Ecosystem Overview Map https://t.co/ENk8CXGqyb
• Deep Dive into Permaweb Index https://t.co/nw30qhFkOX

Moni’s Opinion

Overall, $AO looks like a highly interesting chain that almost no one is talking about on X. We think this is partly because they don’t have VCs or KOLs and partly because the team failed to create a good user journey. We spent quite a lot of time just trying to understand the basics, and diving deeper into the ecosystem only made things worse. Just like $AO itself, the ecosystem’s technical projects aren’t making any effort to simplify the understanding and usage of their products—which, in our opinion, is a major flaw. On the other hand, you could say that we’re still early. If we look back at TAO before its success, things looked even worse.
As for the product itself, it stands out significantly from the chains that have launched recently, and their concept is unique. However, even though this is a parallel blockchain, scalability issues have already surfaced in the first week of mainnet.

The most important point that shouldn't be overlooked is the token distribution and the new funding model for teams that $AO has introduced. So far, it seems like most protocols in the ecosystem will follow a similar launch model, which could become a major and very attractive narrative.

To sum up, what concerns us is the complexity of its usage and the difficulty for other users to understand it. @miguelrare wants to see how the team plans to address the issues in the mainnet, how they position themselves moving forward, and how soon native protocols start launching in the ecosystem.

We expect to make a decision about further purchases within the next two weeks.

That's it, frens

But remember, you always need to do your own research. NFA.
For more researches, alpha reports and degen plays > https://t.co/jXOXVVI3lj

Lots of love, Moni 💜