ai16z: the Bazaar of Agents

Teng Yan argues ai16z is a bazaar approach to AI agent infrastructure through ELIZA, an open-source modular framework with character systems, runtime orchestration, and a trust engine for autonomous trading (1-10% position sizing, 15% drawdown stops). The $800M market cap token trades at 50x+ NAV (~$15M), driven by ELIZA ecosystem value capture, Virtuals comps, and team attention, but faces monetization challenges and community dependency risks ahead of its October 2025 expiration date.