I Pledged On Virtuals... Got $IRIS... And Wish I Cashed Out

This is the story of a great Virtual Genesis, and how I failed to cash out $700 because I believed in the tech! Pledged, got the tokens and HODL!

The IRIS Genesis by Nethermind on Virtuals set a new record as the most oversubscribed launch on the platform. As the first agent-powered project on Ethereum mainnet through Virtuals, IRIS brought real-time, AI-driven smart contract security directly into developers’ social workflows.

The agent is trained on a vast audit corpus and backed by Nethermind’s expert team! Therefore IRIS offers instant vulnerability reports right on X, helping builders stay ahead of threats.

This historic launch, with millions committed, highlights growing trust in AI-powered security and marks a major milestone in decentralized DeFi innovation. The $IRIS launch on Virtuals market the AI agents debut on the Ethereum’s mainnet!

What sets $IRIS apart is its cutting-edge data moat, trained on real audit cases from Nethermind’s extensive experience with top protocols! The agent will update daily to catch zero-day threats while minimizing noise.

Instead of hiding behind dashboards, it delivers risk alerts and education right where developers are most active, making security seamless and contextual.

Led by Nethermind’s expert team, including Ethereum Foundation veteran Tomasz Stanczak, $IRIS carries top-tier pedigree. This is why the $IRIS Genesis launch on Virtuals Protocol has set a new record for oversubscription. The event was oversubscribed by 2,458%, with over $2.17 million committed by 12,800 participants

This surpasses the previous record of 2,250% oversubscription set by the $AXR launch, and 2500% set by Solace! The $IRIS launch also garnered significant attention, with over 900,000 $VIRTUAL pledged and more than 14,000 participants .

The high oversubscription indicated a strong demand and interest in the project, reflecting the growing enthusiasm for AI agents and decentralized finance on the Ethereum mainnet.

This was my biggest pledge and commit so far, going crazy with 28,000 Virgen Points and 565 $VIRTUAL! The estimation was 11k $IRIS tokens, but I received a bit less due to the over-subscription.

Now fully launched, we were updated with more details about IRIS and the agent's utility. The UndercoverIRIS agent is a specialized AI-powered security assistant built into the $IRIS system that continuously monitors smart contracts and code snippets shared on social platforms like X!

The 24/7 job is scanning them for vulnerabilities and potential exploits in real time. Unlike traditional scanners that rely on dashboards, IRIS works quietly in the background, listening to developer conversations, analyzing code directly from tweets or replies, and delivering risk alerts and remediation advice right where developers engage.

This proactive, context-aware approach helps catch threats early, supports safer development, and keeps the community informed without interrupting their workflow.

What about my $IRIS stash? Was the hype real? I received almost 8200 tokens from the genesis, and another 1,057 airdrop for staking $VADER. The peak value of my stash was $718 but I decided to hold! Once the hype will go... the utility will drive the value!