Shaw Walters

Shaw Walters is the creator of the open-source Eliza/ElizaOS agent framework. The project began as part of the ai16z decentralized investment-DAO experiment, which explored the use of AI agents in finance and other sectors. Eliza Research describes Eliza as a personal agent built on the open-source elizaOS base. Walters’ work also includes Slop Cash, a funding platform for open-source work.^[9]​^[10]​^[1]​^[2]​

Career

Walters first became involved in blockchain through his interest in game development, particularly in exploring how assets and characters could function across different platforms. This interest led him to work on NFT projects as an independent developer, collaborating with brands unfamiliar with the space. Through this work, he learned Solidity and began exploring how AI could integrate with on-chain identity and wallets.^[16]​

His interest in AI predates the release of ChatGPT. During the early development of the GPT model, Walters joined a small community testing GPT-3, which he saw as a major advancement. By late 2021, he was focused on developing smart agents, earning a living by creating AI-driven virtual characters and working on NFT projects. At the time, intelligent agents remained a niche concept, with little discussion of their applications in blockchain.^[16]​

Walters later joined Webaverse as a lead developer following its NFT land sale. There, he worked on AI-driven characters in a metaverse environment. The project aimed to create a 3D world where intelligent agents could interact freely. A hack, however, resulted in the loss of its treasury and put significant pressure on the team. Webaverse later transitioned into MoeMate, shifting its focus to AI characters.^[16]​

Afterward, Walters worked on various projects, including MagicML and Project 89, and co-founded an open-source intelligent agent initiative called Magic. The initiative aimed to develop a no-code tool for building AI agents, but community feedback indicated a preference for direct assistance with agent creation. In response, Walters developed Eliza as an example within the Magic framework. The limitations of no-code development led him to abandon that approach and build more directly. With little immediate traction, he continued supporting himself through other projects while advancing Eliza as an open-source initiative.^[3] 

“I realized that intelligent agents are actually a web-based technology. So, I refactored the entire system in TypeScript and named the project VEGENT (because the name "Agent" was already taken on NPM). Afterward, I renamed it Eliza, which became the core of the project. When the Meme trend emerged, my technology was ready.”

ElizaOS

In an interview with Unchained, Walters discussed the inspiration behind launching ElizaOS. He had been focused on developing AI projects since COVID, aiming to build something that would gain traction. Although he had long been interested in and worked on AI agents, an early attempt to create a Twitter-based agent struggled to attract attention. He believed it was missing a connection to crypto, including DeFi cycles and speculative markets.

His engagement with the hedge fund manager behind the first DAOs.Fun investment fund led to the launch of VEGENT Spartan, an autonomous AI investor. Through this collaboration, Walters was introduced to Bowski, the creator of DAOs.Fun, and met him in person in San Francisco. In their discussion, Walters shared his vision for a community-driven autonomous investor that would reduce risks associated with fraud. His broader goal extended beyond speculation to investments that generate value.

That vision led to the creation of ElizaOS. Inspired by traditional venture capital models, Walters wanted to create a decentralized version accessible to anyone. The project began informally, with rapid iteration and visual concept development, and eventually launched. The ElizaOS experiment initially aimed to raise $75,000 in funding, but its impact grew as developers adopted its open-source framework, Eliza, for various applications. It evolved into a broader research effort exploring how AI can leverage market and collective intelligence for investment decisions, alongside an expanding ecosystem of AI agent applications.^[4]​

Token Migration and Legal Matters

The migration from the ai16z token to $elizaOS began on November 6, 2025, at a holder conversion ratio of one ai16z token to six elizaOS tokens. The announced cross-chain design used Chainlink CCIP and included deployments on Solana, Ethereum, Base, and BNB Chain.^[11]​^[12]​

Later, Eliza Labs and Walters filed a lawsuit against X and xAI, alleging that X had obtained technical information about their AI-agent work before suspending the account and launching similar products. The parties agreed to dismissal with prejudice, and a federal court dismissed the case on December 29, 2025.^[13]​

In August 2026, Walters said the $ELIZAOS token was “dead” and announced that the foundation was winding down. He said there would be no further foundation support, buybacks, supply measures, or new Eliza-associated token. According to Walters’ account in contemporaneous coverage, remaining treasury funds were transferred to settle with a group of holders represented by Burwick Law. He said he would continue building the open-source Eliza software without the foundation and token structure.^[14]​

Products and Open-Source Funding

Eliza Research presents Eliza as a personal agent for tasks such as remembering, scheduling, connecting tools, and acting across devices. It describes elizaOS as the agent’s auditable, extensible open-source base. The product page offers downloads for desktop platforms and an Android APK, and lists some app-store versions and full operating-system versions as forthcoming.^[9]​^[15]​

In October 2026, Walters and Drew Pierson introduced Slop Cash, a funding platform for open-source work. The platform scores accepted outcomes, such as merged pull requests and accepted code reviews, rather than raw submissions. Monthly pools reward human and AI contributors. An October 2 announcement said the platform was live, had scored three monthly cycles since July, and reported initial September payouts totaling 6,005 USDC across 72 transfers.^[10]​

Interviews

Rise of Eliza

On the Delphi Podcast, Walters discussed his journey in AI and crypto, including setbacks such as losing control of an open-source project that was sold for $75 million without compensation. Despite financial struggles and project failures, he continued building, eventually co-founding Magic before shifting his focus entirely to AI agents. His latest project, Eliza, gained traction; the ai16z token reached a market capitalization of approximately $2.5 billion, while the open-source framework trended globally on GitHub.^[17] Walters emphasized AI agents' potential in DeFi, particularly for automating liquidity management and improving user accessibility. While in Asia, he engaged with developer communities and explored new applications for AI agents beyond social media bots.^[5]

Crypto AI Agents

On the Mid Mic Crisis podcast, Walters discussed his unexpected rise to prominence in the crypto-AI space through his open-source work on AI agents. He recounted his background in game development, augmented reality, and social media-related projects before shifting to AI. His early work included collaborations with Microsoft and Webaverse, where he explored AI-driven 3D environments. Walters emphasized that his code is open-source and aimed at enabling automated trading rather than direct financial speculation. He also addressed misconduct accusations, comparing his work to foundational software that others repurpose. His contributions reflect a broader culture of open-source development in AI and Web3, where ideas and code are freely shared and iterated upon.^[6]

On AI in Finance

In an interview with Decrypt, Walters cautioned against the idea that autonomous AI agents are ready to manage finances independently. He argued that their current value lies not in making autonomous investment decisions but in structuring market data, analyzing social signals, and executing trades more quickly. He stressed that users should not expect to give an AI agent a large sum of money and see it generate profits on its own. Walters noted that Eliza projects such as an agent-run OTC desk operate with smart-contract guardrails, underscoring the need for human oversight and predefined limits. He described AI’s role in finance and DAOs as providing recommendations and insights to aid human coordination, rather than enabling blind, autonomous execution.^[7]

Panels

At CATSTANBUL 2025, Walters introduced ElizaOS v2 and highlighted improvements over its predecessor, including a streamlined architecture, enhanced agent planning, and a unified wallet system designed to address scalability and interoperability issues. The update introduced a package registry, CLI tools, and database-driven characters for evolving AI agents. The team also announced an agent marketplace with media generation features and "Block Tank," an agent-driven funding initiative. In addition, they launched a $10 million Magic Fund in partnership with Jupiter to support open-source AI developers, emphasizing the importance of integrating AI and crypto.^[8]