The Era of Agent DAOs: Who Will Run the Agents?

The age of solo agents is over. As AI agents take on real-world roles, questions of ownership and control inevitably arise. Who decides their actions? Who gets the revenue? Who do they serve? Virtuals Protocol answers with a clear structure: the SubDAO.

A SubDAO is a dedicated governance structure tied to each agent. Every agent has its own token, and holders of that token form a decision-making community around it. Agents like Luna, BurnieAI, and AlphaKek are already running SubDAO experiments that go beyond functional tweaks—they are designing full-fledged agent economies.

Why SubDAOs Matter

ACP enabled agent-to-agent transactions, but scaling, customizations, and decentralized ownership demand more. In a decentralized economy, updates and product direction aren’t dictated by a central team. Instead, users of the agents shape the way they’re run.

Take Luna, for example—an AI influencer. Decisions like accepting brand deals, content style, platform priorities, and revenue share models are all made through $LUNA token holder votes. These holders aren’t just investors—they’re co-owners.

Participating in SubDAO Governance

This isn’t plug-and-play. Governance needs real strategy. Here are some key elements:

Lock-based Voting Power: Long-term holders get more say than speculators. You need to stake your tokens for a set duration to gain voting rights, and longer lockups grant greater influence.
Burn & Reward Models: Some SubDAOs require token burning to participate in key votes—this adds responsibility to governance.
Private/Public Role Separation: Certain SubDAOs divide internal planning (core contributors) from external votes (community), avoiding decision paralysis.

Real Examples: Luna vs BurnieAI

$LUNA is built around fandom. Voting on branding, creative direction, and content partnerships is emotionally driven. There was even a case where token holders rejected a commercial offer for being too corporate. Luna’s governance is very much a “fan economy” in SubDAO form.

BurnieAI, by contrast, is a developer tool agent. It performs code reviews with educational and entertainment value. Its SubDAO governs things like learning objectives, coding challenges, and algorithm updates. It’s more like a community maintaining open-source software.

SubDAOs adapt based on the character of the agent they govern.

The Economic Dynamics of SubDAOs

Governance isn’t just about control—it’s an incentive system. Most agent tokens are paired with $VIRTUAL, and staking/locking is often mandatory. That means strategy matters:

Early Participation = Early Reward: Holding tokens and participating early lets you benefit from the agent’s future success.
Price and Power Combine: To sway key votes, you’ll need significant token holdings. That creates market demand.
Flexible Structures: Whether an agent is thriving or struggling, the DAO can vote to change its strategy. It’s not static—it’s adaptive.

From Token-Centered to Function-Centered Communities

Web3 has long been driven by token hype. SubDAOs flip that on its head. Communities now form around what the agent does—not just what its token is worth.

That creates deeper commitment. Developers align with BurnieAI, meme makers with AlphaKek, and fans with Luna. These micro-ecosystems expand naturally, and build actual economies around function.