ICO project log 13: the next wave
what AI-native founders mean for the future of fundraising
We’re documenting every step of what it looks like to launch a token the right way, in the United States, in 2026.
This is the project log: a written companion to each daily video. Short updates on what we’re working on, what’s blocking us, and what we’re learning along the way.
Day 27/60
Dennison’s in New York. The market is soft, the macro is uncertain, and the team is being honest about what that means for our timeline.
The market right now
We told you we’d be transparent, and that includes the uncomfortable parts. The market is not in a great place for token sales right now. There’s macro uncertainty, geopolitical tension, and a general softness across the ecosystem. We’re watching it carefully and considering timing with the seriousness it deserves. We’re not lawyers and this isn’t financial analysis: this is just what we’re seeing and thinking through in real time.
The AI thesis
Here’s what’s pulling our attention: we’re seeing increasing interest in using our orchestration protocol for AI agents. And we’ve been developing a thesis around what that means.
The popular narrative is that the agentic economy will be agents doing everything. Dennison’s take is different. What’s actually emerging is the rise of solo founders who can operate entire organizations using agents. The prototype is the product. Technical barriers are collapsing. And that changes the shape of fundraising fundamentally.
The pattern looks like 2008: macro disruption pushes people out of traditional employment, and a wave of them start building. But this time, the tools are radically more powerful. A single person with the right agents can ship a product, find customers, and get to revenue without a team of twenty.
What this means for fundraising
VCs are not going to be able to keep up with the volume of people building new things. The era of pre-seed checks for tens of millions of dollars is ending for a lot of businesses. What replaces it is micro-raises: tens of thousands of dollars, just enough for a couple months to test an idea, then raise again. Maybe your agent co-founder handles part of it.
This is what we’re building toward. We’re developing skills so agents can natively use the orchestration protocol to run their own auctions. But the bigger picture is the tooling we’ve already built: the token sale infrastructure, the transparency, the disclosures. All of it maps directly onto a world where thousands of new founders need to raise capital fast, fairly, and without gatekeepers.
The throughline
It would be easy to look at a soft market and get nervous. We are being thoughtful about timing. But the thesis hasn’t changed: the future of fundraising is on-chain, transparent, and accessible. The AI wave isn’t a distraction from that thesis. It’s an accelerant. The number of people who will need these tools in the next 24 months is about to grow dramatically, and we want to be ready.
We’re documenting everything: the legal sequencing, the tax strategy, the custody setup, the go-to-market, all of it. If you’re building in crypto and thinking about launching a token, this is the playbook we wish existed.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this series constitutes financial advice, investment advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any token or security.