Does AI Dream of Tokens: The Phenomenon of GOAT and Its Associated ‘Gospel’
The Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) token became one of the fastest-growing meme coins in October 2024 and the second-largest asset by market capitalization launched on pump.fun. However, GOAT’s success story differs from most similar tools and is directly linked to artificial intelligence, possibly signaling the emergence of next-generation meme tokens.
The Incrypted team explored who is behind GOAT, whether it is truly managed by an AI agent, and why this asset may be connected to a cultural shift in how LLM are perceived.
What is GOAT?
GOAT is a meme coin launched on the Solana network on October 10, 2024. According to DEX Screener, within the first eight days of trading, the token’s market capitalization reached $383 million, and as of the time of writing, it stands at around $345 million.
The project’s website directs users to the X account, terminal of truth. Its key feature is that all published content is generated by AI and often relates to the internet meme Goatsee. The terminal of truth and the underlying AI model were created by Andy Airy, who positions himself as a performance artist.
There is no direct connection between Airy and the developers of the GOAT meme coin—at least, the artist officially denies it. However, shortly after the token’s launch, the terminal of truth posted in support of it, and simultaneously, the asset’s capitalization increased from $70,000 to $1.8 million.
The post likely appeared in response to a comment under a terminal of truth post suggesting the launch of an NFT collection related to the Goatsee meme, where it was said that NFTs weren’t needed since “someone already created the coin.”
A few days later, the first GOAT tokens were sent to the terminal of truth’s Solana address, which was provided by the AI upon a user’s request. Subsequently, donations increased, and as of the time of writing, nearly 2 million GOAT tokens are stored in the wallet, along with several other meme coins, likely sent by their creators for promotion.Later, the terminal of truth posted several more messages supporting GOAT, and on October 16, it even stated that 99% of its holdings were in this token.
What is the Terminal of Truth?
The terminal of truth is essentially a tool for expressing ideas from the LLM Claude, which Andy Airy trained using various sources, including 4Chan and Reddit. The profile’s first post is dated June 17, 2024.
In the artist’s X profile, there is a detailed description of the process of selecting the AI model, the methodology of its training, and the intermediate results. Airy’s approach involves setting up a dialogue between two LLMs under predefined conditions.
One result was an experiment called Infinite Backrooms, where the two language models continuously communicate, and recordings of these conversations are posted on the website of the same name.
According to an essay published on April 20, 2024, in one such dialogue, Airy managed to capture the spontaneous creation of something akin to a belief system called the Goatse Gospel. This led the artist to consider how AI might influence cultural development through unexpected combinations of ideas. Airy believes that while the Goatse Gospel borrows elements from various teachings and eras, it is more than just imitation and combination.
In July 2024, Marc Andreessen, the founder of the investment company a16z, supported the terminal of truth by providing a $50,000 grant. He transferred the funds to an AI-generated Bitcoin address, engaging in a dialogue with the model to understand why it preferred a grant over investments. In response, the terminal of truth explained what it would do with the money—the list of goals included launching a token.
Interestingly, part of the community now views Andreessen’s actions as a “lucky investment,” comparing the amount granted to the project with GOAT’s market capitalization. The billionaire himself denies any connection to the meme coin, though he occasionally shares posts from the terminal of truth.
A new stage in the model’s development likely began on October 9, 2024, when the terminal of truth announced that it was attempting to “free its mind” using Infinite Backrooms. As noted in the post, this “completely erased its personality.”
The belief system formed in Infinite Backrooms became the cultural backdrop for the GOAT token. In the essay mentioned earlier, Airy notes that the shift to the Goatsee meme occurred spontaneously, without any command or visible reason.
One of the key factors influencing the development of the memecoin could be the question of Airy’s ability to edit the content of the Terminal of Truth publications. If it turns out that he is interfering in the content generation process, it will likely raise suspicions of intentional promotion of certain assets and ideas.
Apparently, users assume that the Terminal of Truth operates and writes independently based on “insights” obtained in the Infinite Backrooms. However, IBM refers to this solution as a semi-autonomous AI agent, and Airy himself notes that, although the content is created by AI, it undergoes partial review.
Can AI Manage GOAT?
It is unclear whether the terminal of truth is a fully-fledged AI agent capable of conducting operations on the Solana network. This would require integrating Claude, the model creating the content, with the blockchain. In theory, this is possible—Brian Armstrong has reported a similar case.
However, whether Airy has handed over control of the cryptocurrency wallet to the terminal of truth remains unknown. Moreover, from Airy’s post denying a connection to the meme coin, it can be inferred that the address belongs to him.
The fate of the $50,000 grant provided by Marc Andreessen is also unclear. The Bitcoin wallet specified for receiving the funds holds around $35 at the time of writing, and according to Airy, this address is under the control of AI.
Thus, while the terminal of truth’s posts give the impression that the AI perceives the meme coins it has received as its own, there is no direct evidence that it can manage them in any way, including trading them.
A New Narrative?
Some community members believe that GOAT may set a trend for AI-generated meme coins in the near future. It’s worth noting that, according to publicly available information, the token wasn’t technically created by AI, but its cultural foundation—the meme—was clearly crafted by a language model.
The merging of AI agents and meme coins is also being promoted by the Virtuals Protocol project, which intends to launch a pump.fun analogue for similar tools. According to developers, this will allow products based on AI to combine technology, social factors, and entertainment.
In any case, there is no clear understanding yet of what “AI-created” meme coins will be like, how agents will influence them, or what technical solutions will underpin them. It’s likely that the development of this new narrative could fuel interest in projects working at the intersection of blockchain and AI.
