The crypto market is changing.
Some people chase the next trend.
Others build the systems that will last.
Kite AI is in the second group.
At $0.0772, the KITE token is not in the headlines.
It is down about six percent today.
Daily trading is around $65 million. The market cap is $139 million and it ranks 195 on CoinMarketCap.
But the real story is bigger.
The network has handled over 400 million transactions and 1.7 billion AI calls. Its testnet keeps growing.
Kite is not just an AI token.
It is a blockchain that teaches AI agents how to act responsibly.
They can shop, pay, and settle bills on their own.
From Zettablock to Kite AI
Kite started as Zettablock in early 2025.
Dr. Chi Zhang, a PhD from UC Berkeley, changed the project to Kite AI to solve a harder problem:
How can AI be trusted at a large scale?
The solution combines blockchain and rules for AI behavior.
Kite runs on Avalanche subnets with smart contracts compatible with Ethereum.
It adds an identity layer called AIR, short for Agent Identity and Rails.
Through AIR, AI agents get passports. These passports show what they can do, how much they can spend, and what risks they can take.
This does not lock them down. It gives them safety limits.
Funding came quickly.
Kite raised $33 million in total. PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst led an $18 million Series A. Coinbase Ventures added more in October.
x402: Easy Payments for AI
Kite’s first challenge was payments.
The solution is x402, named after the old HTTP code for “Payment Required.”
It lets AI agents send stablecoins directly through web requests.
No API keys. No middlemen.
Just a direct connection between software programs.
The result: fees dropped ninety percent.
There are over 900,000 transactions per week.
A $180 million mini-economy of machine-to-machine payments is forming.
As one developer said,
“It is like teaching APIs how to use a credit card.”
It is not about speculation.
It is about giving software a wallet and letting the system handle the rest.
Token, Staking, and Supply
The KITE token powers the network.
Total supply is 10 billion. Circulating supply is 1.8 billion. About 48 percent is for the community.
Validators stake tokens to secure the network and earn 12 to 15 percent per year.
AI agents use the token for transaction fees, network access, and rewards.
When Kite launched on Binance in November, it had a $263 million volume in one day. The fully diluted value reached $883 million in hours.
Most of the tokens, about 82 percent, are locked until 2027. This limits inflation but may affect price if growth slows.
Regulators are watching closely.
The main question is: when an AI wallet moves money, who is the user?
Mainnet and Builders
The mainnet is almost ready.
Founder Zhang said it could launch in late December after tests pass 300 million transactions.
The Validator Program started on December 5 with fifty global nodes called Wind Runners. They will help secure the network.
The “Fly the Kite” NFT mint gave early adopters extra staking rewards. Over 1,500 people joined.
Partnerships are growing.
BrevisZK helps verify AI calculations. Shopify, Amazon, and PayPal tested x402 payments. Animoca Brands called Kite “the backbone of the agentic economy.”
Challenges and Perspective
The market is tough.
KITE is down 79 percent from its November high.
Trader confidence is low and competitors like Fetch.ai and SingularityNET are chasing similar ideas.
Still, adoption is strong.
Over 20 million smart contracts have been deployed.
AI agents made 715 million calls in November.
Developer sign-ups are increasing weekly.
It is not loud, but the system is moving.
The Big Picture
Kite AI is building the internet that was never finished.
It is a system where software can pay for what it uses.
This is not hype.
It is infrastructure.
At $0.0772, the token is quiet.
But on-chain, AI agents are shopping, paying, and learning to work independently.
If the agent economy grows, Kite will not need attention.
It will already be the network everyone uses.
