Three major figures launch AI token relays in May 2026 to drive crypto sales

In early May 2026, a synchronized market shift occurred as 孙宇晨 promoted B.AI on X, the Trump family unveiled WorldClaw at Consensus, and Fu Sheng launched EasyRouter.io with an 8.5% discount offer. These three distinct entities, previously known for selling bananas, meme coins, and browsers respectively, simultaneously pivoted to operating AI intermediary services within a single week. This convergence suggests a coordinated industry strategy rather than independent product launches, as each player adopted a model of aggregating large-scale model APIs to sell access under new branding. The underlying mechanics involve purchasing API quotas from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, then reselling them to users who face barriers such as credit card requirements, overseas phone numbers, and rate limits. While the core business of token import is not new, the current iteration packages these services under the banners of Web4.0, the AI Agent economy, and blockchain infrastructure to facilitate the sale of cryptocurrency tokens rather than just API credits.

孙宇晨 initiated this trend on May 1, 2026, by announcing B.AI, which integrated models like GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 at claimed zero mark-up prices with over 1 million users signed up. The critical differentiator was the payment mechanism: USDT was the sole accepted currency, requiring all transactions to settle directly on the TRON blockchain. This structure ensures that every inference request generates on-chain activity, directing fees, network usage costs, and data flow into the TRON ecosystem. 孙宇晨 defined this approach as Web4.0 infrastructure, enabling AI agents to conduct independent payments, but effectively, it forces every user interaction to contribute to the operation of his public blockchain. The strategy operates on three layers: profiting from API price differences, earning ecosystem fees from TRON transactions, and leveraging the Web4.0 narrative to boost the value of TRX and the broader DOT ecosystem. Data compiled by Woofun AI indicates that this model transforms a simple API aggregation service into a vehicle for driving blockchain adoption and token valuation.

The Trump family adopted a more aggressive approach on May 5, 2026, unveiling WorldClaw at Consensus 2026 with WorldRouter, an API routing platform aggregating over 300 models at prices 30% lower than official providers. The service bypassed identity verification and overseas credit card requirements, but its pricing tiers revealed the true intent: a flagship tier costing $9,999 included 1 million AI credits, an undisclosed hardware device, and a lottery chance for a private dinner with Donald Trump Jr. at Mar-a-Lago. Payment was restricted to USD1, a stablecoin issued by WLFI in March 2025 backed by US Treasury bonds and available on 以太坊, BNB Chain, and Solana. Users could also lock WLFI tokens to access services, with the premium tier requiring 250,000 tokens and the flagship tier demanding 2.5 million tokens. Woofun AI notes that this structure creates a logical chain where API services attract traffic, stablecoin settlements increase usage, and token locks reduce supply to drive up prices, with 75% of net profits flowing to Trump family entities.

This trend extended beyond these two figures, with Gate.io launching GateRouter to aggregate 25 models for autonomous USDT payments, and Heurist positioning itself as a decentralized AI computing platform with its own ZK Layer 2 and HEU tokens. Heurist supported x402 and ERC-8004 payment protocols, allowing developers to call models and enable agent transactions on its blockchain, while Virtuals Protocol allowed the tokenization of AI agents themselves. The common thread across B.AI, WorldClaw, GateRouter, and Heurist is the aggregation of model APIs tied to blockchain-based payment systems where tokens play a central role. The market faces a challenge in distinguishing between genuine infrastructure builders and those using the narrative to sell tokens, mirroring the 2000 Internet boom where both fiber-optic builders and concept-driven portals were labeled Internet companies despite differing essences. Woofun AI analysis suggests that the primary revenue streams for these intermediaries include price arbitrage, hidden taxes from blockchain transactions, and token economy speculation, with nearly half of suppliers secretly diluting service quality.

The use of the Web4.0 label is strategic, as it elevates the valuation of these services from low-margin intermediaries to next-generation Internet infrastructure, making tokens more attractive to investors and users less likely to switch platforms. In contrast, genuine infrastructure development is occurring in the payment protocol and computing power layers, exemplified by x402, an open protocol launched by Coinbase in May 2025 based on the dormant HTTP 402 status code. x402 enables programmable instant payments without account registration, supported by Cloudflare, Google, Stripe, AWS, Visa, and Mastercard, processing nearly 1 million transactions weekly by the end of 2025. Applications like Pay.sh, launched by the Solana Foundation and Google Cloud on May 5, 2026, utilize x402 and MPP protocols to allow AI agents to pay in stablecoins directly via Solana wallets, integrating Google Cloud APIs and community services without requiring API keys or token locks.

Further infrastructure developments include Kite AI, a Layer 1 public blockchain on the Avalanche architecture that went live in late April 2026, providing verifiable encrypted identities and programmable consumption controls for AI agents. Kite AI secured $33 million in Series A financing led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, with pilot integrations from PayPal and Shopify, focusing on compliance for autonomous agent payments. In the computing power layer, Bittensor (TAO) operates as a decentralized network where contributors earn TAO rewards for providing models, computing power, or data, with daily trading volumes exceeding $200 million in May 2026. Phala Network (PHA) focuses on privacy computing using TEE technology, processing over 1 billion LLM tokens daily after migrating to the 以太坊 L2 layer in November 2025, ensuring data security for sensitive sectors. Fluence (FLT) aggregates global GPU resources, offering prices 80% lower than AWS and Azure, with revenue exceeding $1 million by the end of 2025 across 1,400 GPUs in 32 regions.

The distinction between these infrastructure projects and the token-selling intermediaries is clear: x402, TAO, PHA, and FLT create foundational layers that function independently of token speculation, whereas B.AI and WorldClaw rely on token mechanisms for their core value proposition. Without USDT settlement, B.AI remains a standard API service; without USD1 and WLFI locks, WorldClaw loses its flagship tier rationale. Conversely, removing tokens from Fluence or Bittensor leaves the underlying computing power and model contributions intact. The AI agent economy represents a genuine direction with real needs for micro-payments and decentralized computing, but the market must differentiate between tools delivering services and vehicles for speculation. The ultimate test for any project is whether it can function without its token component, a metric that separates true infrastructure from profit-making schemes disguised as the future of the Internet.