Eliza Labs2026-08-05 15:24:38Eliza founder says token is finished and foundation will shut down after lawsuit settlementEliza Labs founder Shaw Walters said the project’s native token is over and the Eliza Foundation is winding down after a class-action settlement drained its remaining resources. In a post on X on Tuesday, Walters said the case was settled with a group of token holders represented by Burwick Law because the project did not have enough money to keep fighting in court. He said the foundation’s remaining treasury and available cash were consumed by the settlement. Walters’ statement follows the rapid rise and decline of ai16z, the Solana-based AI agent project launched in October 2024 and later renamed ElizaOS after Andreessen Horowitz objected to the use of the ai16z name. The token at one point reached about $2.5 billion in market capitalization in January 2025. The lawsuit, filed in April in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accused Eliza Labs of false advertising, deceptive business practices, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. Walters said he is abandoning tokenization, though he added that development of ElizaOS will continue without a token.2230
Eliza Labs2026-08-05 14:40:07Shaw Walters Says ai16z Is "Dead" After Burwick Law Settlement Drains Remaining TreasuryEliza Labs founder Shaw Walters said the ai16z token is "dead. Completely." after settling a class action brought by Burwick Law and handing over what he described as the rest of the project treasury and all remaining cash. In a post on X, Walters told holders there is no foundation, no buyback money, and no supply mechanism left to support the token’s price. He also said he no longer owns any ai16z tokens and plans to keep building ElizaOS software while starting over separately with the intellectual property. The lawsuit, filed on April 16, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as Doe v. Walters, was brought on behalf of people who bought ai16z on Solana starting Oct. 24, 2024. Burwick Law said the complaint names nine defendants, including Walters, Eliza Labs, AI16Z DAO, and DAOs.fun, and includes claims tied to deceptive acts, false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The firm also alleged that "Marc AIndreessen" was only a facade and that a September 2025 token migration expanded supply from 1.1 billion to 11 billion, with 40% of newly created tokens routed to defendant-controlled entities.3020
ai16z2026-08-05 09:48:18ai16z declared dead as Eliza OS founder says token is finished and foundation is shutEliza OS founder Shaw Walters has published a lengthy statement saying the ai16z token is effectively dead, the foundation has been shut down, and no buyback will take place. He said token holders can either sell or try to revive the market themselves, but should not expect further action from him. Walters also said the foundation ran out of money fighting legal action brought on behalf of token holders, and that the remaining funds were paid out. He added that he once held $25 million worth of ai16z tokens, never sold a single one, and watched the position fall to zero. The statement has renewed attention on ai16z’s short but outsized role in the 2024 AI Agent token boom. The project raised 420.69 SOL on DAOs.fun in October 2024, or about $75,000, and later climbed to a $2.6 billion market cap in less than three months, according to the article. The piece argues that crypto priced the AI Agent idea before the products were ready, while the actual commercial winners in 2026 have been AI companies and platforms such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and OpenRouter rather than tokenized crypto projects.1960
ai16z2026-08-05 08:42:04Eliza OS founder says ai16z is over as the old crypto AI agent trade fadesShaw Walters, the founder of Eliza OS, has declared that the ai16z token is effectively finished, saying the foundation has shut down and no buyback will take place. In a long statement, Walters told holders to either sell or "find a group of people to pump it," while making clear he would do nothing more for the token. He also said the foundation had been sued by lawyers acting on behalf of token holders and no longer had the money to fight, with the remaining funds already paid out. The statement has brought renewed attention to one of the biggest crypto AI stories of late 2024. ai16z launched on DAOs.fun in October 2024 with a crowdfunding target of 420.69 SOL, about $75,000, for what was pitched as an AI-run investment fund. In less than three months, its market value climbed to $2.6 billion and helped push the wider AI agent token sector close to the $10 billion mark. The article argues that crypto priced the AI agent idea far earlier than the underlying products were ready. By 2026, many of the functions once promised in token white papers had become real through companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and platforms like OpenRouter, none of which needed tokens to build viable businesses. That contrast now sits at the center of the ai16z post-mortem.530
ai16z2026-08-05 05:42:47Eliza Labs Founder Declares ai16z Token 'Dead' as Foundation Shuts DownAccording to a report from ChainCatcher, Shaw Walters, founder of Eliza Labs, has officially declared that the ai16z/ElizaOS token is 'dead' and that the related foundation will be closed. The decision comes after Burwick Law, a law firm representing token holders, filed a class-action lawsuit. Unable to afford the legal expenses, the foundation chose to settle and will distribute the rest of its treasury assets to claimants in full. Walters said he never sold any of his ai16z tokens and never made a profit from the project. He clarified that he only drew a basic wage matching that of an engineer and is currently relying on personal savings. He further stated that he intends to keep developing the underlying Eliza technology, but he explicitly promised that no token will ever be tied to Eliza again. For existing holders, Walters suggested they handle their tokens themselves, as the foundation will not provide repurchase support.1990
