MetaMask on Thursday launched Agent Wallet, a self-custodial wallet designed for AI agents that can trade crypto on a user’s behalf within preset limits.
The product is built around a simple pitch: give AI agents room to act without giving up the keys. Agents can execute swaps, perpetuals trades, prediction-market bets, and staking across Ethereum-compatible chains and Hyperliquid, but only after users define spending caps, choose which protocols the agent can access, and set a risk profile.
Guard Mode and Beast Mode
Users can choose between two operating modes: the more cautious Guard Mode and the more permissive Beast Mode.
Guard Mode is the default setting. Users pre-approve the protocols and addresses an agent can touch, and anything outside those rules, or any action above the spending limit, stops for 2FA approval before execution.
Beast Mode removes the allowlist and lets the agent trade freely without approval prompts. In that setup, real-time threat scanning becomes the main live safeguard, though user spending caps still apply and 2FA remains in place as a backstop against malicious transactions.
Transaction controls and developer integrations
MetaMask said every transaction goes through simulation, threat scanning, and MEV protection. Eligible trades can receive up to $10,000 a month in loss coverage.
The wallet also plugs into AI tools developers already use, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenClaw. It can handle gas on the user’s behalf by settling fees in the token being moved, which means an agent does not need to hold a chain’s native coin to complete a transaction. There is no token tied to the launch.
Not first to market, but one of the largest players
The newsletter said MetaMask is not the first company to ship this type of product. Coinbase released agentic wallets in February, and MoonPay has been building in the area since spring. MetaMask, though, is the largest name in the segment mentioned in the piece, with roughly a quarter of the wallet market. The report said Consensys and founder Joe Lubin are betting that the next wave of on-chain activity will not be driven by humans.
Whether traders will hand real money over to autonomous software remains an open question in the article, along with how quickly users can get comfortable enough to trust it.
Newsletter view and market snapshot
Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner, and the piece notes that the analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Warner wrote that his “gut read” is that the industry is still more than a year away from broad adoption, though it is getting closer, and that building the infrastructure now makes sense because agentic trading is “definitely the future.”
Across markets, major crypto assets were slightly higher. BTC rose 0.4% to $65,000, ETH was flat at $1,913, SOL was unchanged at $73.50, and HYPE added 2% to $56.70. Top altcoin movers included LIT, up 11%, ADA, up 7%, and ENA, up 6%.
In traditional markets, oil gained 1% to $76.80 and gold rose 2% to $4,380. Stock futures were also in the green ahead of new jobs data due later in the day, with the Dow up 0.1% and the Nasdaq up 0.5%.
Regulation, institutions, and corporate developments
The vote on the Clarity Act was officially delayed until after the August recess, with the odds of passage this year falling to 13%.
Senators pushed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to ban “wildfire bets” on prediction markets, urging the regulator to prohibit contracts tied to natural-disaster wagering as scrutiny of the sector increases.
Tether expanded its tokenization business into Saudi Arabia, starting with institutional real estate and planning to bring other asset classes on-chain as it goes deeper into the Gulf region.
JPMorgan said Hyperliquid ETF inflows have stalled after leading in May and June, cooling as competition from newer products intensified through July and August.
Cathie Wood’s Ark made SpaceX and Circle top holdings after its latest buying spree. SpaceX is now ARKK’s fifth-largest position at nearly $282 million, accounting for 4.73% of the portfolio.
Nearly 23% of major Bitcoin miners were running at a daily loss as of August 6. Of 22 machine models tracked, about 22.7% were generating negative net returns.
ETF flows, on-chain activity, and protocol tracker
Bitcoin ETFs posted $138 million in net inflows on Thursday, while ETH ETFs saw $92 million in inflows. The newsletter also said Bitcoin ETF inflows for the week have now topped $750 million.
Hyperliquid’s active perpetual futures traders hit a record high. Citing Hypertracker data, the piece said the figure reached about 263,467.
Robinhood Chain also set a new all-time high in active addresses at 375,000. Launchpad volume rebounded to $212 million, while DEX volume climbed to $361 million.
The estate of late Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman sued for control of the company, seeking to remove CEO Ian De Bode over an alleged unapproved appointment.
Meme coins and NFTs
Meme coin performance was mixed. DOGE gained 1%, SHIB fell 2%, PEPE rose 1%, PENGU lost 2%, TRUMP added 2%, and BONK dropped 10%.
Robinhood Chain had a volatile session after Cashcat was listed on Robinhood US. Cashcat fell 18% to $104 million, new project Mancer jumped 11x to $8 million, and Pons and Index rose 35% and 45%, respectively.
On Solana, Cate rose 90%, Stonk gained 45%, and butthole surged 150%. ANSEM was up 5% at a $180 million valuation.
NFT leaders were mixed as well. CryptoPunks rose 2% to 32.2 ETH, BAYC held flat at 8 ETH, Pudgy stayed at 3.85 ETH, and Stonkbrokers slipped 1% to 7.57 ETH.
New mint Mancers opened at 0.834 ETH, nearly tripling from its 0.33 ETH debut price the previous night on 450 ETH in volume.
Momo, up 450%, and God Pull, up 70%, led the top movers. Another XCOPY 1/1 sold for more than $500,000, marking the third NFT to reach that price level in two days.