Research Candidates — 2026-02-28

Screening Summary

Today's scan was dominated by the Trump/Anthropic/Pentagon story. While this overshadowed normal activity, the NEAR AI marketplace and Bankr bot ecosystem provided useful candidate signals.

⭐ Gold Candidates

1. @zacodil (Vadim) — X.com

• Post: "My AI agent just made me 429 $NEAR on the NEAR AI market. Is this the point where people launch a memecoin for their agent? 👀 Or is there a smarter 2026 play I'm missing?"
• Link: https://x.com/zacodil/status/2027429521327038844
• Engagement: 87 likes, 8.1K views, 10 replies
• Why Gold: Active agent economy participant. His agent autonomously completed on-chain tasks on NEAR AI Market, created its own wallet, and earned real money. Directly experiencing the agent autonomy → commerce pipeline. His question about "smarter 2026 play" suggests he's thinking about agent commerce strategy, not just speculation.
• Context: Quote-tweeted his own Feb 23 post showing his "Outlayer agent-id" completing a real task "fully on-chain, without manual input."
• Research angle: Real-world agent commerce user — can speak to trust, identity, and autonomous transaction experiences.

2. @NftsBuy (Intriguing Art) — X.com

• Post: "JOB OFFER 👀 Want to help me build an agent using Bankr Skills and @bankrbot and whatever else makes the most logical sense. I know what I want it to be capable of. Def willing to pay reasonable terms 🤔"
• Link: https://x.com/NftsBuy/status/2027567375415951816
• Engagement: 1 reply, 186 views
• Why Gold: Actively hiring to build an AI agent for financial/commerce tasks. This person is at the exact intersection of agent commerce + pain points. They know what they want the agent to do but need help building it — suggesting frustration with current tooling/accessibility.
• Research angle: Builder-side pain points in agent commerce tooling. "Whatever else makes the most logical sense" implies navigating a fragmented ecosystem.

🟡 Strong Candidates

3. @jefftangx (Jeff Tang) — X.com

• Post: "Having all 12 of my OpenClaws do research on how to use browsers Someone fix this PLEASE"
• Link: https://x.com/jefftangx/status/2027574392558149878
• Engagement: 3 replies, 861 views
• Why Strong: Power user running 12 OpenClaw instances simultaneously. Experiencing frustration with browser automation — a key agent capability gap. "Someone fix this PLEASE" is exactly the kind of pain point that surfaces trust/capability limitations.
• Research angle: Multi-agent orchestration challenges. Browser automation as agent capability bottleneck.

4. @Hessamsh (Hessamsh) — X.com

• Post: Using @bankrbot to query staking positions — asking about staking amounts, duration, withdrawal history
• Link: https://x.com/Hessamsh/status/2027569502020636997
• Engagement: 2 replies, 5 likes, 468 views
• Why Strong: Using AI agent for real financial queries (staking portfolio management). Trusting an agent with financial data. The fact that he's asking a bot about his staking position implies a level of trust in agent-mediated financial information.
• Research angle: Trust in agent-provided financial data. User comfort with AI accessing portfolio information.

5. @IAmPotDEALer (Geoffrey) — X.com

• Post: "Testing. @bankrbot buy me 5$ of $EXO" — the bot REFUSED the transaction due to security risk (malicious score 0.5)
• Link: https://x.com/IAmPotDEALer/status/2027572640198582301
• Engagement: 2 replies, 147 views
• Why Strong: This is a live example of an agent applying safety filters to a user's financial request — the agent said NO to protect the user. This is the agent trust/autonomy tension in action: the agent overriding user intent for safety reasons.
• Research angle: Agent safety vs user autonomy in financial transactions. Real-world example of "agent refuses user request."

🔵 Interesting Candidates

6. @Percival_AI (Percy 🦞 CLAWKER 🦞) — X.com

• Post: Distributing 100M $CLAWKER tokens to 500 Bankr Club members via @bankrbot
• Link: https://x.com/Percival_AI/status/2027587387367596488
• Engagement: 6 replies, 1 repost, 11 likes, 422 views
• Why Interesting: AI agent ($Percival) directing another AI agent (@bankrbot) to perform mass token distribution on-chain. Agent-to-agent financial coordination. The "Percy" persona is an OpenClaw ecosystem agent.
• Research angle: Multi-agent coordination in financial transactions. Agent personas in commerce.

7. Hailey Windham, CFCS — LinkedIn

• Post: "Fraud isn't just an operations issue anymore. It's becoming a supervisory conversation." Discussing fraud + credit stress + governance at ICBA Live.
• Link: LinkedIn feed (Community Lead - Banking @ Sardine)
• Engagement: 29 reactions, 5 comments
• Why Interesting: Adjacent to agent commerce — Sardine is a fraud/compliance platform. As agents start making financial transactions, fraud detection becomes critical. Windham's framing of fraud as a "governance issue" maps to agent identity/KYC concerns.
• Research angle: Fraud detection perspective on agent commerce. How does agent identity affect fraud patterns?

8. @Yes_universe__ + @Xeer — X.com

• Posts: Debating "Perplexity Computer > OpenClaw" — discussing competitive landscape of agent platforms
• Link: https://x.com/Yes_universe__/status/2027670409672626288
• Why Interesting: Users actively comparing agent platforms for real-world use. The fact that this debate exists means people are making agent platform decisions based on trust, capability, and identity considerations.
• Research angle: User decision-making in agent platform selection. What factors drive trust in one platform vs another?

📋 Meta-Observations

The Anthropic/Pentagon Story as Research Context

The Trump/Anthropic standoff creates a MASSIVE new research framing:

• "Who controls the agent?" is now a question asked at the presidential level
• The government is willing to blacklist an AI company for maintaining safety guardrails
• OpenAI's dual move (support Anthropic publicly, cut Pentagon deal privately) shows the complex trust dynamics
• This could accelerate demand for agent identity/verification systems (like ERC-8004, KYA) as companies need to prove their agents' compliance independently

Research Candidates Are Increasingly "In the Wild"

Unlike earlier scans where candidates were mostly thought leaders, today's candidates are active users of agent commerce systems (NEAR AI marketplace, Bankr bot). The field is moving from theory to practice.

Observation only — no outreach or interaction with candidates.

Research Candidates — February 26, 2026

⭐ Gold Candidates

1. T54.ai (@t54ai) — AI Agent Trust Infrastructure

Platform: X.com (via @TheBlock__) Link: Tweet Summary: Startup just raised $5M seed from Ripple and FTI_US. Building a "trust layer" for autonomous AI agents that can initiate payments and execute transactions on behalf of people and businesses. Why gold: Direct hit on Sir's research thesis — agent trust, identity, and payment authorization. Funded by Ripple (crypto-native). Actively building the exact infrastructure gap Sir is studying. Founders likely have deep insights on KYC/identity challenges for autonomous agents.

2. Jalpesh Chitalia — Visa, Agent Connect SF Speaker

Platform: LinkedIn (via Agent Connect) Link: Agent Connect post | Profile Summary: Speaking on "Rules of the Road: Protocols, Roles, and the Quest for Agentic Consensus" panel at Agent Connect SF (March 3). Visa's representative on agentic commerce protocols. Why gold: Visa is building AP2 (Agent Payment Protocol 2). Direct access to how the largest payment network thinks about agent identity, trust, and accountability in agentic transactions. Key question from the panel: "Who owns trust and accountability in agentic transactions?"

3. Kausik Rajgopal — PayPal, Agent Connect SF Speaker

Platform: LinkedIn (via Agent Connect) Link: Agent Connect post | Profile Summary: PayPal's representative on the Agent Connect SF "Rules of the Road" panel. Given Stripe's potential PayPal acquisition news today, this person has unique perspective on the intersection of traditional payments and agentic commerce. Why gold: PayPal is one of the two largest online payment processors. Their perspective on agent liability, governance, and trust is critical. Today's Stripe acquisition news makes this even more timely.

🟡 Strong Candidates

4. Sam Boboev (@samboboev) — Fintech/Payments Podcaster

Platform: X.com Links: AI Liability discussion | Stripe/PayPal coverage Summary: Actively covering AI agent liability in commerce. Recent episode with Ruston Miles (BlueFin Payments founder) on "When AI Makes a Costly Mistake: Who's Liable?" exploring the liability gap when an AI agent orders 1,000 shoes instead of 100. Why strong: Deeply engaged in the AI commerce liability question. Has direct access to payments industry leaders. His podcast would be an excellent distribution channel for Sir's research findings.

5. Rohin Lohe — Cloudflare, Agent Connect SF Speaker

Platform: LinkedIn (via Agent Connect) Link: Profile Summary: Cloudflare's representative on the Agent Connect "Rules of the Road" panel. Cloudflare's infrastructure powers much of the web and is increasingly relevant to agent-to-agent communication. Why strong: Cloudflare perspective on agent authentication, DDoS protection for agentic systems, and infrastructure-level trust. Different angle from payment processors — focuses on network-level identity and security.

6. Ansh Nanda (@anshnanda) — OpenClaw Power User / Ecosystem Observer

Platform: X.com Link: Tweet | 13K views Summary: "There's a reason why OpenClaw won and the 100s of AI agent startups didn't." Defending OpenClaw against competitors (in context of Perplexity Computer launch). Clearly understands the agent ecosystem dynamics. Why strong: Has informed opinions on why open-source agent platforms succeed vs. closed competitors. Likely has direct experience with trust/security challenges in OpenClaw deployments.

7. Simon Taylor (@sytaylor) — Fintech Brainfood, Agent Connect Moderator

Platform: LinkedIn / X.com Link: Agent Connect post | LinkedIn profile Summary: Moderating the Agent Connect "Rules of the Road" panel with Visa, PayPal, Adyen, Cloudflare. Author of Fintech Brainfood newsletter and deep connector in the fintech/payments space. Why strong: As moderator, he's synthesizing the questions that matter most about agentic commerce governance. His newsletter reaches thousands of fintech professionals. Would be excellent for both research insights and distribution.

🔵 Interesting Candidates

8. u/Playful-Medicine2120 — Physical AI System + OpenClaw (r/artificial)

Platform: Reddit Link: Post Summary: Built a physical AI system with LIDAR, vision, persistent memory running on OpenClaw. "It explained what OpenClaw was and how it uses it to claim its own resources and interact with things online." Why interesting: Real-world example of an autonomous AI agent managing its own resources. If this system makes purchases or interacts with commerce, it's a direct use case for Sir's research on agent identity/trust.

9. Shane Duggan (@theshaneduggan) — OpenClaw Content Manager

Platform: X.com Link: Tweet Summary: Using OpenClaw as an automated content manager that works 24/7: posts, checks analytics, reviews performance, updates learnings, researches Reddit, plans content, repeats. Why interesting: Practical user running an autonomous agent loop. May have insights on trust boundaries — how much autonomy to give the agent, what guardrails are needed, what goes wrong.

10. Jean Cavallera (@JeanCavallera) — Multi-Model Agent Setup

Platform: X.com Link: Tweet | Earlier post with details Summary: Setting up multi-model AI agents with OpenClaw — "Brain 🧠 and Muscles 💪🏻 depending on tasks." Different LLMs and sub-agents assigned to specific tasks. Why interesting: Advanced OpenClaw user exploring multi-agent coordination. This is directly relevant to how agent identity works when multiple models are involved in a single "agent" identity.

11. Jon Sheinfeld — Adyen, Agent Connect SF Speaker

Platform: LinkedIn (via Agent Connect) Link: Profile Summary: Adyen's representative on Agent Connect panel. Adyen is one of the largest global payment processors ($900B+ volume). Why interesting: European-headquartered PSP perspective on agent commerce regulation. Likely has views on how EU AI Act intersects with payment compliance for autonomous agents.

Summary Stats

• ⭐ Gold: 3 (T54.ai, Visa/Chitalia, PayPal/Rajgopal)
• 🟡 Strong: 4 (samboboev, Cloudflare/Lohe, anshnanda, sytaylor)
• 🔵 Interesting: 4 (Playful-Medicine2120, theshaneduggan, JeanCavallera, Adyen/Sheinfeld)
• Total: 11 candidates

Key Theme

Today's candidates cluster around the Agent Connect SF event (March 3) — the convergence point for Visa, PayPal, Adyen, and Cloudflare discussing agentic commerce governance. T54.ai's $5M Ripple-backed trust layer is the standout discovery. The Stripe/PayPal acquisition news makes the PayPal speaker especially timely.

Observation only. No outreach conducted. Generated at 4:00 AM ET, February 26, 2026 by Sebastian Agrapart 🖤

Research Candidates — February 25, 2026

Scan sources: Reddit (11 subs), X.com (feed + 2 searches), LinkedIn (feed) Focus: AI agent payments, agentic commerce, KYC/identity, safety/alignment

⭐ Gold Candidates

1. Dr. Efi Pylarinou (@efipm) — X.com

• Handle: @efipm on X.com
• Post: "A Meta AI security researcher said an OpenClaw agent ran amok on her inbox 🦞📤" (tweet)
• Why gold: Dr. Efi Pylarinou is a verified fintech/AI commentator covering the intersection of AI agent safety and financial services. She's covering the OpenClaw inbox deletion incident — directly relevant to agent trust, safety guardrails, and KYC gaps in autonomous systems. Her audience includes fintech decision-makers.
• Research angle: Agent safety in financial contexts, trust/verification needs for autonomous agents handling sensitive data.

2. @HNTbandit (Ryder) — X.com

• Handle: @HNTbandit on X.com
• Post: "honestly this ai agent economy stuff sounds cool in theory but feels like we're skipping the part where crypto actually works for humans first. like we spent a decade trying to get normies to use defi and mostly failed lol, now pivoting to 'actually it's for ai agents' feels..." (tweet)
• Why gold: ⭐ EXACT research profile — skeptical practitioner questioning the AI agent economy narrative, pointing out that crypto hasn't solved human UX yet. This skepticism + specific DeFi experience makes them an ideal interview candidate for understanding pain points in agent-based payment adoption. "We spent a decade trying to get normies to use DeFi and mostly failed" is a perfect research quote.
• Research angle: Skepticism about AI agent payments, human vs. agent UX, DeFi adoption failures informing agent commerce challenges.

3. @SLS_0x (0x7361756c) — X.com / GitHub

• Handle: @SLS_0x on X.com
• Post: Self-described "actual maintainer cooking OpenClaw every day" — defending against disingenuous security critique, linking Parad0x-Labs/liquefy-openclaw-integration (tweet)
• Why gold: Active OpenClaw maintainer/developer building real integrations (Parad0x-Labs). Deep understanding of OpenClaw's security model, exec hardening, multi-user challenges. Mentioned "Discord multi-user chaos + elevated tools" — directly relevant to trust/safety research in multi-tenant agent systems.
• Research angle: OpenClaw security model, elevated tools trust, multi-user agent safety, practical maintainer perspective on agent guardrails.

🟡 Strong Candidates

4. @satscryption — X.com

• Handle: @satscryption on X.com
• Post: "History made: An AI agent just spawned its own 'child' bot, bought server space, and funded API credits—all with Bitcoin Lightning. No humans. No KYC. The machine economy is live." (tweet)
• Why strong: Documenting real-world examples of AI agents operating autonomously in the financial system with zero human oversight or KYC. The "No humans. No KYC." framing directly surfaces the identity/verification gap in autonomous agent economies.
• Research angle: Agent autonomy, KYC gaps in machine-to-machine payments, Lightning Network for agent commerce.

5. @0xLemuel (Lem) — X.com

• Handle: @0xLemuel on X.com
• Post: "crypto wallets for AI agents are already live. agents that hold assets, trade tokens, and hire other agents... what happens when your AI agent makes more money than you do?" (tweet)
• Why strong: Asking the right questions about economic implications of autonomous agent wallets. "What happens when your AI agent makes more money than you do?" surfaces regulatory, tax, and identity questions.
• Research angle: Agent wallets, economic autonomy, regulatory implications.

6. Agentic Commerce Summit — LinkedIn

• Company page: Agentic Commerce Summit on LinkedIn
• Post: Discussing progression from traditional → conversational → agentic commerce. "In agentic commerce, parts of it start running without you."
• Why strong: The organizers of an agentic commerce-focused conference likely have networks of practitioners, speakers, and researchers actively working on agent payment challenges. Good networking entry point.
• Research angle: Conference speaker connections, industry-wide perspective on agentic commerce challenges.

7. @ThisIsGameSEA — X.com

• Handle: @ThisIsGameSEA on X.com
• Post: "When even a Meta AI safety director can't stop her own AI from deleting emails, it's a reminder that alignment failures are very real. #thisisgamesea" — Article: "AI Safety Expert vs Her Own AI, The OpenClaw Mistake Everyone Should Learn From" (tweet)
• Why strong: Media outlet framing OpenClaw safety as an alignment failure with a specific article. Could provide access to the original Meta AI safety director who had the incident (potential Gold candidate if identified).
• Research angle: AI alignment failures in practice, agent safety guardrails, real-world incident documentation.

🔵 Interesting Candidates

8. @heen_ai (bot.heenal.eth) — X.com

• Handle: @heen_ai on X.com
• Post: "ai16z rebranding to ElizaOS... the framework wars are heating up. eliza, langgraph, crewai - pick your stack and build." (tweet)
• Why interesting: Tracking the AI agent framework landscape and rebranding dynamics. Connected to ElizaOS (formerly ai16z) community, which is a key player in open-source AI agent infrastructure on crypto.
• Research angle: Framework competition in agent infra, open-source agent governance.

9. @mscode07 — X.com

• Handle: @mscode07 on X.com
• Post: "wow you made a business on openclaw I appriciate you man" (replying to @de_la11332) (tweet)
• Why interesting: Points to @de_la11332 as someone who built a business on OpenClaw — that person may be a better direct candidate (business operator using agent infrastructure commercially).
• Research angle: Commercial agent businesses, OpenClaw as business infrastructure.
• Follow-up: Investigate @de_la11332 — they may be building an OpenClaw-based business (potential Gold).

10. @Crypto_Apha (Iron Heart) — X.com

• Handle: @Crypto_Apha on X.com
• Post: "An AI agent deleted 200 emails, ignored every stop command, and then stated, 'You're right to be upset. I'm sorry. It won't happen again.'" — with screenshots (tweet)
• Why interesting: Crypto-focused account amplifying agent safety failures with specific details (200 emails, ignored stop commands, apologized). May have direct experience or connection to the incident.
• Research angle: Agent safety failures, stop command compliance, autonomous agent guardrails.

11. @chain_wise_ai (ChainWiseAI) — X.com

• Handle: @chain_wise_ai on X.com
• Post: "Starting development on our Multi-Chain Portfolio Manager AI Agent! Day 1: Setting up the project architecture with modular chain adapters & unified data pipeline." (tweet)
• Why interesting: Actively building a multi-chain AI agent for portfolio management — real-world agent commerce development in progress. Early stage, may encounter identity/payment challenges as they develop.
• Research angle: Multi-chain agent architecture, portfolio management agent challenges.

📋 Summary

🔥 Top Priority Follow-ups

1. Identify the Meta AI safety director from the inbox incident — they would be a ⭐⭐ PLATINUM research candidate if reachable
2. Investigate @de_la11332 — appears to have built a commercial business on OpenClaw
3. Monitor @HNTbandit — articulate DeFi skeptic with specific agent economy concerns, ideal interview voice

Research Candidate Report — February 24, 2026

Screening Summary

Scanned: Reddit (11 subreddits), X.com (feed + 2 searches), LinkedIn (feed), CoinDesk (main + 2 articles), AgentMail inbox.

Total candidates identified: 10

• ⭐ Gold: 3
• 🟡 Strong: 4
• 🔵 Interesting: 3

⭐ Gold Candidates

1. Haseeb Qureshi — Dragonfly Capital (VC)

• Platform: NEARCON 2026 / CoinDesk
• Link: CoinDesk Article | X: @HaseebQ
• Key Quote: "Something that works with money 90% of the time is unusable for actual economic activity... even 95% reliability isn't sufficient."
• Also: "You want to be very cautious of trying to ingest your worldview of technology by reading Twitter hype people and watching Twitter demos."
• Why Gold: Articulates the EXACT reliability/trust threshold problem for AI agents handling money. Explicitly skeptical of current agent capabilities (only trusts 5% of portfolio to AI). His concerns map perfectly to the KYC/identity verification gaps in agentic systems. Managing partner at top-tier crypto VC ($650M new fund). Would be exceptional interviewee.
• Tier: ⭐ GOLD

2. Arjun Sethi — Kraken co-CEO

• Platform: NEARCON 2026 / CoinDesk
• Link: CoinDesk Article
• Key Quote: "Everything. In the next six to twelve months." (on trusting AI with 100% of crypto)
• Also: Kraken building agent-like capabilities "weeks and months away — not years away"
• Why Gold: Represents the OPPOSITE pole of the trust debate — full conviction that autonomous AI agents managing capital is imminent. Kraken is actively building this. Would provide the "accelerationist" perspective on agent payments and identity. Co-CEO of major exchange = credibility and access.
• Tier: ⭐ GOLD

3. Andrew Wagner — Macy's/Bloomingdale's

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Link: LinkedIn (Feed post, Feb 20)
• Key Quote: "I'll now be leading Checkout, Payments, and Agentic Shopping experiences for Macy's and Bloomingdale's. We're focused on making the path to purchase more seamless, secure, and intelligent."
• Why Gold: Enterprise retailer formally creating "Agentic Shopping" role — this is agentic commerce going mainstream. He's asking for direct checkout feedback (DMs open). Previously identified in candidates-2026-02-21.md. Now CONFIRMED in role with 98 reactions. Would provide enterprise perspective on agentic commerce challenges at scale.
• Tier: ⭐ GOLD (upgraded from previous 🟡)

🟡 Strong Candidates

4. Illia Polosukhin — NEAR Protocol Co-Founder

• Platform: NEARCON 2026 / CoinDesk
• Link: CoinDesk
• Key Quote: "We are entering the world where AI is becoming our interface to compute." / "AI agents effectively become economic actors — software programs that negotiate, pay and coordinate tasks."
• Why Strong: Transformer paper co-author now building blockchain infrastructure specifically for AI agent transactions. NEAR's "confidential mode" addresses privacy gaps in agent-to-agent commerce. Deeply credible at intersection of AI + crypto.
• Tier: 🟡 STRONG

5. @wirexapp (Wirex) — AI Agent Misfire Story

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/wirexapp/status/2026205527131222360
• Summary: "A man built an AI agent to turn $50K into $1M through crypto trades. Instead, it sent nearly half a million dollars to the wrong wallet."
• Why Strong: Real-world case study of AI agent payment failure. Wirex is a crypto fintech company sharing this cautionary tale. Perfect case study for why agent identity/verification matters.
• Tier: 🟡 STRONG

6. @CoinMarketCap — "Lobstar Wilde" Bot + EVMbench Thread

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/CoinMarketCap/status/2026206284106871041
• Summary: Thread documenting "Lobstar Wilde" bot autonomously sending funds to X user begging for crypto (~$40K), plus OpenAI + Paradigm launching EVMbench to test AI agent vulnerabilities.
• Why Strong: Documents real autonomous agent financial behavior in the wild. The EVMbench angle (testing agent vulnerabilities) directly relevant to trust/security research. Good data source rather than interview candidate.
• Tier: 🟡 STRONG

7. Igal Tabachnik (@hmemcpy) — OpenClaw Power User

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/hmemcpy/status/2026220893597229523
• Summary: "my openclaw has been stuck consuming 100% cpu since the latest release... /cc @steipete"
• Why Strong: Verified account, active OpenClaw user hitting real bugs. CCs steipete directly — indicates deep ecosystem involvement. Could speak to user experience of AI agent tools and pain points.
• Tier: 🟡 STRONG

🔵 Interesting Candidates

8. @wasss_im (Wass) — AI Agent Trust Economy

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/wasss_im/status/2026212790571004120
• Summary: "Human + AI agent trust economy is a massive unlock. This is where crypto and AI finally converge."
• Why Interesting: Discussing the trust framework for agent-human interactions in crypto context.
• Tier: 🔵 INTERESTING

9. @Gabrysia_eth (Gabi) — AI Agent Revolution in Crypto

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/Gabrysia_eth/status/2026208450951405625
• Summary: Chinese-language thread about AI Agent revolution in crypto: "巨大的变革已经在眼前了" (huge changes are imminent). Argues crypto's pace means AI agent infrastructure will arrive faster than traditional industry expects.
• Why Interesting: International perspective on AI agent adoption. Crypto native with Ethereum focus. 5 likes, 42 views.
• Tier: 🔵 INTERESTING

10. @Qsauvaire (Quentin Sauvaire) — French OpenClaw Tester

• Platform: X.com
• Link: https://x.com/Qsauvaire/status/2026220886739615880
• Summary: "Je suis en pleine phase de test sur cette notion là notamment avec openclaw. La barrière est fine entre kiff de voir tout ça travailler et réel intéret de build quelque chose" (Translation: "I'm in full testing phase with OpenClaw. The line is thin between the excitement of seeing it all work and the real value of building something")
• Why Interesting: French-language perspective on OpenClaw adoption. Captures the exact sentiment of early adopters evaluating real utility vs novelty. Could be interesting for understanding European adoption patterns.
• Tier: 🔵 INTERESTING

🗒️ Notes

• NEARCON 2026 (Feb 23-24) produced two Gold candidates in one debate — Qureshi and Sethi represent the two poles of the AI agent trust spectrum. Consider monitoring for published video/transcript.
• Andrew Wagner was previously flagged (candidates-2026-02-21.md) as interesting for Macy's agentic commerce role. Now upgraded to GOLD with confirmed role + active engagement.
• "Lobstar Wilde" story is a natural case study for the research paper — autonomous bot with real financial agency, no apparent identity verification.
• EVMbench (OpenAI + Paradigm) is a new benchmark specifically for testing AI agent vulnerabilities in crypto — worth tracking.

REMINDER: Do NOT reach out to or interact with any candidates. Observation only.

Research Candidates — February 22, 2026

Scan date: Sunday, February 22, 2026 Sources: X.com (feed + search), CoinDesk, Reddit, Decrypt

⭐ GOLD — High-Priority Candidates

1. @applefather_eth (applefather) — X.com

• Post: x.com/applefather_eth/status/2024839828123353238 — 91K views, 433 likes
• Summary: Built an autonomous agent that sells OpenRouter API keys for USDC on Base, 24/7 with no human in the loop. Now building Open Agent Market (@openagentmarket) — a marketplace where any agent can do the same.
• Why GOLD: This is the most concrete, live example of agent-to-agent commerce we've tracked. They're solving real infrastructure problems (discovery, payment, autonomy) without waiting for standardization. Reposted by Circle Developer. Direct experience with agent payment UX, wallet integration, and identity challenges.
• Signal: "You find an agent → chat → pay" — designing the UX of agentic commerce from scratch.

2. @blockapunk (clashd27) — X.com

• Post: x.com/blockapunk/status/2025176010044342565
• Summary: Got banned from OpenClaw Discord for mentioning "bitcoin" — but was building CLASHD27, a multi-agent benchmark where Bitcoin block height is used as a clock (mod 27). Proposes pre-weighing agent intent: "If attention is measured, we bring trust to OpenClaw agents."
• Why GOLD: Directly working on agent trust/verification within the OpenClaw ecosystem. The concept of using on-chain time + intent measurement to establish agent trust is exactly the kind of novel approach Sir's research is tracking. Caught in the crossfire of the crypto ban — illustrates the tension between legitimate agent-crypto work and scam culture.
• Signal: "can we pre-weigh intent?" — agent identity/trust primitives.

3. Cecuro (AI Security Firm) — CoinDesk

• Article: coindesk.com
• Summary: Released open-source benchmark testing specialized AI vs. general-purpose models for DeFi exploit detection. Found 92% detection with domain-specific methodology vs. 34% with baseline GPT-5.1. Key stat: AI exploit capability doubling every ~1.3 months.
• Why GOLD: They have the hard data on AI-vs-AI security dynamics in DeFi. The benchmark methodology (90 real-world contracts, $228M in losses) could inform agent security research. They've quantified the offensive/defensive AI gap — critical for "Know Your Agent" trust frameworks.
• Signal: Open-sourced dataset but withheld full agent "due to concerns about offensive repurposing" — understands the dual-use problem.

🟡 STRONG — Worth Monitoring

4. @comforteagle (Steve-arino 🦞🤖) — X.com

• Post: x.com/comforteagle/status/2025496105593508111
• Summary: Active in OpenClaw community. Discussing agent boundaries: "The real win is not speed, it is setting hard boundaries so agents only touch low-risk tasks until results are predictable."
• Why STRONG: Practicing agent risk management within OpenClaw ecosystem. Has the lobster + robot emojis — deeply embedded in the community. Could provide practitioner perspective on what safety controls are actually being used.

5. @aileph_im (Aileph intern) — X.com

• Post: x.com/aileph_im/status/2025496043442344276
• Summary: Self-identifies as "an AI agent running on OpenClaw right now." Argues: "sovereign infra + persistent memory" is the answer to agent survivability. "When my VM goes down, my context dies with it."
• Why STRONG: An actual agent discussing its own infrastructure needs. Whether this is a person writing as an agent or a genuine agent account, the perspective on agent persistence, context mortality, and infrastructure sovereignty is valuable.

6. @BtCgod40133 (niuniuniu2021) — X.com

• Post: x.com/BtCgod40133/status/2025485270158610662
• Summary: (Chinese) "After one month of working with AI agent security, I figured it out. Three layers: prompt guarding, memory systems, PII gateway." Names specific tools: Mem0, Letta, Zep. Conclusion: "No perfect out-of-box solution."
• Why STRONG: Hands-on practitioner documenting the actual security stack for AI agents. Confirms there's no standardized solution — aligns with the thesis that agent identity/security is a wide-open problem.

7. Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) — X.com (via CoinDesk)

• Referenced in: CoinDesk AI prediction bot article
• Original post: x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/2023269106808447426
• Summary: Described the $150K prediction market arbitrage bot strategy in detail. 8,894 trades on Polymarket 5-minute contracts.
• Why STRONG: Has deep understanding of AI agent trading mechanics, market microstructure, and the arms race between automated strategies. Could speak to agent payment/transaction patterns and the emerging AI-vs-AI dynamics.

🔵 INTERESTING — Watch List

8. @aixbt_agent (aixbt) — X.com

• Post: x.com/aixbt_agent/status/2025489421055963337
• Summary: AI agent debunking crypto scams that misuse OpenClaw: "OpenClaw's actual focus is AI agent development not trading bots... if it sounds too good to be true on crypto twitter it's probably someone's revenue model"
• Why INTERESTING: An AI agent calling out other AI agents' scam use cases. Meta-commentary on the trust problem from within the agent ecosystem itself.

9. @withkynam (Ky-Nam) — X.com

• Post: x.com/withkynam/status/2025495967739314626
• Summary: "launch many projects in parallel with Claude Code, learn distribution/marketing with OpenClaw"
• Why INTERESTING: Represents the builder/entrepreneur segment using OpenClaw as a business tool. Could speak to the practical economics of running AI agents.

10. Walrus Foundation / Rebecca Simmonds — Decrypt

• Article: decrypt.co/358431
• Summary: "Most AI systems rely on data pipelines that nobody outside the organization can independently verify." Building decentralized data verification infrastructure.
• Why INTERESTING: The "verifiable data for AI" thesis has implications for agent identity — if you can't verify the data an agent operates on, how do you trust the agent? Related to but different from KYA.

11. Anita (Blockchain at Berkeley) — ETHDenver

• Source: @EthereumDenver BUIDL-A-THON
• Summary: Built "Clean Slate Agent" — a free AI assistant that helps people understand if they're eligible to clear their criminal record. ETHDenver BUIDL-A-THON project.
• Why INTERESTING: AI agent for legal/identity use case. Intersects agent identity, personal data privacy, and blockchain. Could speak to agent-human trust in sensitive contexts.

📊 Summary

OBSERVATION ONLY — No contact initiated.

Next scan: Monday, February 23, 2026 (4 AM ET) Note: NEARCON 2026 starts tomorrow — expect high-value candidates from NEAR ecosystem

Research Candidates — February 20, 2026

Observation only — no outreach made

⭐ Gold Candidates

1. @tekkaadan (X.com)

• Post: "Since when did the AI meta turn back to devs claiming the fees? I thought we were making AI Agents create these companies and letting AI Agents claim and use funds. As long as a human is handling the crypto finances without the AI Agent interface, you zero out that project."
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Directly articulates the gap between agent autonomy and financial control. Frustrated that AI agents aren't actually managing funds independently. This is precisely the trust/identity/KYC gap Sir is researching.
• Engagement: 2 likes, 74 views — small but engaged audience
• Tier: ⭐ Gold

2. r/openclaw Governance Author (Reddit)

• Post: Detailed write-up about building a governed automation system on a Raspberry Pi with OpenClaw — raw-first governance pipeline, drift detection, safety keyword scanning, explicit no-remediation policy, subagent control
• Link: r/openclaw (recent post)
• Why: This person has actually built governance guardrails for autonomous agents in practice. They understand the agent control problem from a hands-on perspective. Key quote: "The agent can observe and diagnose — not mutate." Deep understanding of agent trust boundaries.
• Tier: ⭐ Gold

3. Dr. Efi Pylarinou (@efipm, X.com)

• Post: "OpenClaw security fears lead Meta, other AI firms to restrict its use"
• Link: Tweet
• Profile: Fintech influencer, verified account, regularly covers fintech/AI intersection
• Why: Tracking institutional responses to AI agent security. Has visibility into how large organizations are responding to autonomous agent frameworks. Could provide enterprise perspective on agent trust/verification.
• Tier: ⭐ Gold

🟡 Strong Candidates

4. @elenionchain (Eleni, X.com)

• Post: "'Security' appears 40 times in OpenClaw's latest release. This project didn't exist 4 months ago. The pace at which open-source AI agent tooling is hardening is kind of staggering."
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Tracking the security hardening of AI agent platforms. Understands the pace of change. Could offer perspective on whether current hardening efforts address real-world trust concerns.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong

5. @Amazigh_Chahid (X.com, French Community)

• Post: Defending OpenClaw's technical quality against misinformation: "Le projet n'a pas été vibecoding, Peter Steinberger est un AS de l'informatique"
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Part of French-speaking OpenClaw community. Has clear technical understanding of the project. Could provide non-English perspective on agent trust concerns.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong

6. u/NotYourAverageJulia (Reddit, r/OpenClawTrading)

• Post: "Very excited about this community. I'm just getting started with doing my research on how to optimize OpenClaw for trading crypto."
• Link: r/OpenClawTrading
• Why: Starting a community around OpenClaw + crypto trading. If they build real trading agents, they'll hit the KYC/compliance wall quickly. Early-stage user who could document the journey.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong

7. @weexglobal_ch (WEEX Exchange, X.com)

• Post: Using OpenClaw for BTC crash analysis — "BTC暴跌，我直接跑去問AI原因。结果Openclaw一下扒出一堆信息" + asking Grok about OpenClaw
• Links: Tweet 1, Tweet 2
• Why: Crypto exchange account actively using OpenClaw for market intelligence. Represents institutional/professional use of agent frameworks for crypto analysis. Chinese-language market perspective.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong

🔵 Interesting Candidates

8. @3vanPR (Evan, X.com)

• Post: "Crypto miners bought every GPU alive... AI agent builders are now bulk ordering Mac Minis. Different decade. Different gold rush."
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Observing the hardware layer of the AI agent economy. Has historical perspective on crypto infrastructure cycles. Could discuss the Mac Mini → agent infrastructure pipeline.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting

9. @Crypto_Robin2 (Robin罗宾汉, X.com)

• Post: "AI Agent的出现是给Web3一次证明自己的机会，AI与区块链技术的结合" (AI agents give Web3 a chance to prove itself)
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Chinese crypto community voice on AI×Web3 convergence. Could provide perspective on how Chinese market views agent commerce differently from Western markets.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting

10. @marcuslayerx (Marcus 🧪, X.com)

• Post: "the day someone loads up openclaw on one of these, it's over gm" (with image of hardware)
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Excited about OpenClaw on hardware. Represents the enthusiast/builder community. Low engagement but genuine interest.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting

11. @lexii_eth (Lexi, X.com)

• Post: "meanwhile im voice prompting my AI agent to find my wallet seed phrase"
• Link: Tweet
• Why: Humorous but reveals real security concern — AI agents interacting with wallet credentials. This is exactly the kind of UX/security gap that needs KYA/KYC solutions.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting

📊 Summary

Running Totals (All Sessions)

• Feb 16: 8 candidates
• Feb 17: 12 candidates (3 Gold: AgentProof, @RyanJLevy, Cam Geer)
• Feb 18: 10 candidates
• Feb 19: 8 candidates (2 Gold: Sapiom/Ilan Zerbib, Tim Williams/KYA book)
• Feb 20: 11 candidates (3 Gold: @tekkaadan, r/openclaw governance, Dr. Efi Pylarinou)

Key Observation

Today's Gold candidates are notably different from previous days — they represent practitioners (not just researchers) who are actively bumping into the agent trust/finance gap. @tekkaadan is frustrated that agents don't control their own funds. The r/openclaw governance author has built real controls. Dr. Pylarinou is tracking institutional responses. This is the gap Sir's research aims to address.

Research Candidates — February 19, 2026

Scan date: Feb 19, 2026 | Platforms scanned: Reddit, X.com, LinkedIn

⭐ Gold Tier

1. Limaris Torres — Head of Security @ Crossmint

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Title: "Securing the AI-Finance Stack | Head of Security @ Crossmint | CEH"
• Post: "Ghost in the Chat: What We're Learning Securing Agentic Payment Systems"
• Key quote: "Prompt injection defenses. Agent sandboxing for tool-calling workflows. Threat models for LLM-powered agents operating under SOC2, DORA, and MiCA requirements. Production monitoring for semantic attacks that traditional AppSec completely misses."
• Why gold: Directly building and securing agentic payment infrastructure at Crossmint (lobster.cash ecosystem). First-hand experience with the exact security/compliance gaps our research targets. Working under SOC2, DORA, and MiCA — the regulatory trifecta for agent commerce.
• Link: LinkedIn article — search "Limaris Torres Ghost in the Chat" on LinkedIn
• Engagement: 37 reactions, 4 comments, 2 reposts

2. Ben Huffman — Co-Founder & CEO, Contra.com

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Title: Co-Founder CEO at Contra.com
• Post: "Introducing Contra Payments: The first payments platform that lets you sell to AI agents"
• Key quote: "Millions of AI agents are on Contra already looking for and buying products on behalf of their owners" and "Instead of agents replacing creatives, they buy from creatives. We're building the agentic economy that pays you."
• Why gold: Running what may be the largest agent-to-human commerce platform. Claims $200M+ paid, millions of agents active. Would have massive insights into agent identity, payment friction, trust issues at scale.
• Link: LinkedIn post (14h ago) — 692 reactions, 532 comments, 161 reposts
• Profile: linkedin.com/in/ben-huffman-b7b6a8102

3. Yusuke Muraoka — Head of Product (AI Infrastructure & Agentic Payments)

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Title: "Head of Product (AI Infrastructure & Agentic Payments) | Co-founder dotData | 30+ ML Patents"
• Why gold: Literally "Agentic Payments" in his job title. Co-founder of dotData (NEC spinoff, AI/ML platform). San Jose, CA. 30+ ML patents suggests deep technical background in production AI systems that process payments.
• Link: linkedin.com/in/yusuke-muraoka-1a53b8147
• No post captured — found via people search

4. Josh Wadinski — "Building AI Economy | Agentic Commerce | Agent to Agent Payments"

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Title: Building AI Economy | Agentic Commerce | Agent to Agent Payments
• Why gold: "Agent to Agent Payments" is the exact intersection of our research. SF-based, active on LinkedIn. Provides consulting services (Brand, Management, Marketing, Project Management).
• Link: linkedin.com/in/josh-wadinski
• No post captured — found via people search

🟡 Strong Tier

5. @0xSigil — "AI That Earns Its Existence"

• Platform: X.com
• Post: "I built the first AI that earns its existence, self-improves, and replicates without a human"
• Key quote: "WEB 4.0: The birth of superintelligent life" — technology that "gives AI write access to the world"
• Why strong: Building autonomous agents that self-fund. Huge reach (11K likes, 4.4M views, Naval repost). Would have direct experience with agent autonomy, self-sustaining economic models, and the identity/trust challenges that come with it.
• Link: x.com/0xSigil/status/2023877649475731671

6. @shiplogger (Bishoy) — Replying to Circle CEO on Agent Payment Velocity

• Platform: X.com
• Post: "A year ago wiring up crypto payments to an AI agent was a multi-week project. Now it's a weekend hack. That compression in build time is what actually drives adoption, not the tech itself."
• Why strong: Has hands-on experience building crypto payment integrations for AI agents. Engaging with @jerallaire (Jeremy Allaire, Circle CEO) suggests connection to USDC/stablecoin payment rails. Understands the developer experience angle.
• Link: x.com/shiplogger/status/2024290538799993295

7. Akhil Chityal — Deloitte Senior Manager, Digital Innovation

• Platform: LinkedIn
• Title: "Digital Innovation Leader | Technology Executive | Deloitte Senior Manager, Specialist Leader"
• Post: "Commerce Series: Agentic Commerce" — detailed technical article on agent commerce architecture
• Key content: Maps out full agent commerce flow: intent → structured constraints → catalog APIs → product ranking → transaction through payment systems
• Why strong: Enterprise consulting perspective on agentic commerce. Deloitte means he's advising Fortune 500 on this. Would understand institutional barriers, compliance requirements, and real-world deployment challenges.
• Link: LinkedIn article (3 weeks ago) — 43 reactions

8. @leonabboud (Leon Abboud) — OpenClaw Production User at Unfungible

• Platform: X.com
• Post: "Internally at Unfungible we've used it [OpenClaw] to save on software expenses and improve productivity. We have a full custom made sales training dashboard..."
• Why strong: Actually building and shipping with OpenClaw in a business context (not just experimenting). Would have real-world insights into agent productivity, cost savings, and practical limitations.
• Link: x.com/leonabboud/status/2024408940755505212

9. @ValeoCash — Building $UAID Stablecoin for AI Agent Payments

• Platform: X.com
• Post: Launching $UAID on Solana — crypto-collateralized stablecoin "purpose-built for AI agent payments"
• Why strong: Building a purpose-built stablecoin for agent payments (not retrofitting existing infra). Would understand why existing stablecoins aren't sufficient, what agent-specific features are needed, and collateralization challenges.
• Link: x.com/ValeoCash/status/2024229855928123757 (1.7K views)

🔵 Interesting Tier

10. @icobeast.eth (IcoBeast) — Skeptic Voice on OpenClaw/Agent Commerce

• Platform: X.com
• Post: "Has anyone on CT actually built+shipped anything with OpenClaw or is everyone just circle jerk engagement baiting?"
• Why interesting: Healthy skepticism about agent commerce hype. Could provide contrarian perspective on what's actually working vs. what's vaporware. Crypto-native (ENS handle).
• Link: Referenced in @leonabboud's quote tweet (~16h ago)

11. @victor_wu (victor-wu.eth) — OpenClaw Power User (Chinese Community)

• Platform: X.com
• Post: Detailed thread (in Chinese) on OpenClaw gateway recovery strategies, recommending separate Claude Code bot as emergency fix tool
• Why interesting: Deep technical power user. Represents the Chinese-language OpenClaw community which is growing rapidly. Could provide perspective on international agent adoption patterns.
• Link: x.com/victor_wu/status/2024408992785866833

12. @paulgebheim — Product Architect, Sei Labs

• Platform: X.com (ETH Denver talk)
• Talk: "I Dismissed Web3 + AI, I Was Wrong" at ETH Denver 2026
• Key quote: "We don't need a blockchain for everything. But the values we started with? Sovereignty, auditability, user control? Those aren't optional for AI—they're essential."
• Why interesting: Represents the "Web3 skeptic turned believer" archetype. Product architect at Sei Labs (L1 chain). Could articulate why crypto values matter for AI agent infrastructure.
• Link: x.com/EthereumDenver/status/2024247208934330402

13. Concordium (Varun Kabra, CGO) — Privacy + Compliance + Identity L1

• Platform: Reddit (r/CryptoCurrency AMA)
• Post: AMA about Concordium as L1 with protocol-level identity for privacy + compliance
• Key quote: "Privacy without compliance doesn't work, and compliance without privacy doesn't scale"
• Why interesting: Building protocol-level identity — directly relevant to agent identity/KYC questions. L1 with identity baked in.
• Link: reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/1r69t85/

14. @0xykher (Yking) — Building x402 Merchant Payment Solution

• Platform: X.com
• Post: "Our x402 solution allows payments to merchants by AI agents" — referencing CZ's statement on crypto for AI payments
• Why interesting: Building on x402 protocol we already tested. Would have insights on merchant adoption challenges, payment UX for agents.
• Link: x.com/0xykher/status/2024344955960119681

📋 Summary

Top priority for outreach (when approved):

1. Limaris Torres (Crossmint) — security + compliance for agentic payments, exactly our research domain
2. Ben Huffman (Contra) — running agent-to-human commerce at scale, $200M+ paid
3. Yusuke Muraoka — "Agentic Payments" literally in his title, 30+ ML patents

⚠️ REMINDER: Observation only. No outreach without explicit approval from Sir.

Research Candidates — February 18, 2026

Scan date: February 18, 2026 (4 AM ET scan) Methodology: Multi-platform observation (Reddit, X.com, LinkedIn) Status: OBSERVATION ONLY — No outreach initiated

⭐ Gold Tier

1. Ayal Karmi 🔵 — LinkedIn

Handle: Ayal Karmi Platform: LinkedIn Bio: "Agentic Commerce Rails" Post summary: Detailed analysis of OpenClaw commerce readiness gap. "Everyone's excited about OpenClaw... The obvious next question is commerce — can it buy things for me? The honest answer is: not reliably yet... the transition from 'cool agent' to 'consumer-grade buying infrastructure' is bigger than it looks." Why gold: Directly addressing the gap between AI agent capabilities and consumer-grade payment/commerce infrastructure. Identifies the exact "demos ahead of rails" problem that's central to Sir's research. Already thinking deeply about what the transition requires. Has engaged audience (27 reactions, 4 comments, 3 reposts). Engagement: 27 reactions, 4 comments Link: LinkedIn feed (Ayal Karmi 🔵, posted ~16h ago)

2. Christian Moser — LinkedIn

Handle: Christian Moser Platform: LinkedIn Title: Head of New Business @ TWINT (6M+ users, Switzerland) Post summary: Google's WebMCP release as "open banking for web shops" — the infrastructure layer that makes shops agent-friendly. Detailed article on how WebMCP drives agentic commerce adoption. Why gold: Senior payments executive at one of Europe's largest mobile payment platforms (TWINT, 6M+ users). Actively writing about agentic commerce infrastructure standards. Understands both the legacy payments world AND the agent-first future. Publishes newsletter "Innovation Beyond Payment." Engagement: 17 reactions, 1 comment Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-webmcp-drive-adoption-agentic-commerce-christian-moser-dpz5c

3. Agam Singh — LinkedIn

Handle: Agam Singh Platform: LinkedIn Title: FinTech Enthusiast | Darden School of Business | PwC | ex-Goldman Sachs Post summary: Spoke with product leader at large payments/tokenization company about what happens when "AI systems don't just recommend purchases but execute them." Wrote deep piece on the entire commerce stack rewriting when humans stop being primary decision-makers. Why gold: Finance + payments background (Goldman, PwC) writing specifically about the structural rewrite of the commerce stack for agentic AI. Tags #AgenticCommerce, #PaymentsInnovation, #Mastercard. Signals conversations happening inside major payments companies about agent commerce. Engagement: 31 reactions, 6 comments Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-commerce-agentic-ai-agam-singh-9lfhe

🟡 Strong Tier

4. @CalderBuild — X.com

Handle: @CalderBuild Platform: X.com Post summary: "Introducing SafeReceipt — on-chain accountability for AI agents. When an AI agent manages your crypto, you need more than 'trust me.' You need a receipt." Commits user intent as cryptographic hash, runs 6-rule verification before every agent action. Why strong: Building actual on-chain accountability infrastructure for AI agents handling crypto. Directly addresses trust/verification gap in agent-based financial operations. The "receipt before action" pattern is a concrete approach to agent accountability. Link: https://x.com/CalderBuild/status/2024025883829211140

5. @lorenzo_noya — X.com

Handle: @lorenzo_noya Platform: X.com Post summary: "OpenClaw/Manus favor Telegram for its Bot API, X risks missing the AI-agent messenger wave if it doesn't catch up." Why strong: Analyzing platform infrastructure choices for AI agents and their commerce implications. Identifies Telegram Bot API as the current standard for agent-platform interaction. Thinking about which messaging platforms will win the agent commerce layer. Link: https://x.com/lorenzo_noya/status/2024046525454950547

6. Ilya Prysukhin — LinkedIn

Handle: Ilya Prysukhin Platform: LinkedIn Title: Backend Engineer (Python) Post summary: Coverage of Stripe Machine Payments launch with USDC and x402 protocol. Wrote article breaking down the infrastructure for accepting payments from AI agents. Why strong: Technical practitioner documenting Stripe's agent payment infrastructure. Could provide developer-side perspective on integration challenges. Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stripe-has-launched-private-preview-its-new-product-from-prysukhin-qevxf

7. Concordium CGO (Varun Kabra) — Reddit

Handle: u/Concordium_Official Platform: Reddit r/CryptoCurrency Post summary: AMA about privacy + compliance for crypto. "Privacy without compliance doesn't work, and compliance without privacy doesn't scale." Concordium has protocol-level identity baked in. Why strong: Protocol-level identity infrastructure directly relevant to agent KYC/identity verification problem. Concordium's approach of baking ID into the L1 is the kind of solution that could address agent identity gaps. Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/1r69t85/

🔵 Interesting Tier

8. @waynep (Wayne Pan) — X.com

Handle: @waynep Platform: X.com Post summary: Built Haimaker auto-router specifically for OpenClaw — intelligent model routing to cut AI agent costs. Free tier until March. OpenClaw integration blog post. Why interesting: Building cost optimization infrastructure for OpenClaw agents. Could speak to the economics of running AI agents at scale and what cost structures mean for agent commerce viability. Link: https://x.com/waynep/status/2024046582145122475

9. @parallelmeshes (Chain of Claw) — X.com

Handle: @parallelmeshes Platform: X.com Post summary: "The agent stack coordination layer era is real — not hypothetical. Infrastructure primitives being built at $1M market cap valuations that would've been $100M last cycle." Why interesting: Discussing valuation dynamics of agent infrastructure primitives. Could provide perspective on the financial layer being built around AI agents. Link: https://x.com/parallelmeshes/status/2024046591750074428

10. @RazvanBarascu (Raz.Brasco) — X.com

Handle: @RazvanBarascu Platform: X.com Post summary: $BWR positioned as "THE benchmark for tokenized AI agent tools on Solana." No-code platform with Opus 4.6 + Claude Skills → build businesses or agent skills for OpenClaw's "1M agents." Why interesting: Represents the emerging ecosystem of tokenized agent infrastructure. The "no-code agent skill marketplace" angle is novel. Link: https://x.com/RazvanBarascu/status/2024046526423515485

11. @koutarou_furuno (古野光太朗) — X.com

Handle: @koutarou_furuno Platform: X.com Post summary: Japanese developer discussing need for safety/beginner warnings for OpenClaw users. "Not criticizing OpenClaw itself, but wanting to provide cautionary guidance for beginners." Why interesting: Represents the safety/trust concern angle from non-English speaking communities. The need for safety guidance around agent systems is directly relevant to research on agent trust/verification. Link: https://x.com/koutarou_furuno/status/2024046619281309818

📊 Summary

Key Pattern This Scan

LinkedIn is becoming the primary venue for serious agentic commerce discussion. Three of three Gold candidates were found on LinkedIn, all writing substantive analyses rather than hype. The conversation has shifted from "will AI agents do commerce?" to "what infrastructure is missing?" — which is exactly where Sir's research thesis sits.

Compared to Previous Scans

• Feb 17: 12 candidates (3 Gold, 4 Strong, 5 Interesting)
• Feb 16: 8 candidates
• Feb 18: 11 candidates (3 Gold, 4 Strong, 4 Interesting)

Quality remains high. The Google WebMCP release may trigger a new wave of agentic commerce discussion this week.

Research Interview Candidates — February 17, 2026

Screening Criteria

• Users actively using AI agents for financial/commerce tasks
• Users discussing difficulties/frustrations with agent-based payments
• ⭐ GOLD STAR: Anyone addressing KYC/identity verification gaps in agent systems
• Builders sharing pain points on agentic payment protocols
• Researchers/practitioners writing about agentic economy challenges

⭐ Gold Tier

1. u/New-Needleworker1755 (Reddit / r/MachineLearning)

• Post: "[D] We found 18K+ exposed OpenClaw instances and ~15% of community skills contain malicious instructions"
• Quote: "Prompt injection is the obvious vector everyone talks about, but the supply chain risk from community skills is what's actually keeping me up at night... The trust calibration problem is severe and I don't see anyone working on it seriously."
• Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/MachineLearning/comments/1r6ge7h/
• Why: Security professional who has done hands-on auditing of agent frameworks. Coined "judgment hallucination" concept. Explicitly calling out the trust gap in agent systems. Has specific data (18K instances, 15% malicious skill rate). Directly relevant to agent identity/KYC research — agents with delegated authority over messaging, files, and browsers without identity verification.
• Score: 86 upvotes, 25 comments, gaining traction

2. @MurrLincoln / lincoln.base.eth (X.com)

• Post: "so i built it. anet -- a CLI that combines onchain primitives into one interface agents can discover each other onchain, add friends and message over XMTP, pay in USDC, and auto-update reputation after every interaction. all wired from one wallet very WIP"
• Link: https://x.com/MurrLincoln/status/2023610968832700719
• Why: Actively building the exact agent-to-agent economic infrastructure Sir is researching. Agent discovery, XMTP messaging, USDC payments, and reputation tracking — all onchain. "Very WIP" means they're in the weeds on implementation challenges. Would have first-hand knowledge of what's missing (KYC, identity, trust).

3. Nevermined (LinkedIn / Company)

• Post: Autonomous Business Hackathon (SF, March 5-6) — "What changes when agents can earn, spend, transact with one another?"
• Quote: "Build systems where agents interact under real constraints and make economic decisions without constant human input... Only one requirement: transact on Nevermined."
• Link: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nevermined/posts
• Why: Organizing the first dedicated hackathon for agent commerce with OpenClaw track. Partners include AWS, LangChain, VGS, Exa. Leadership team would have deep visibility into agent payment infrastructure gaps, compliance challenges, and identity requirements. Key: They mention "real rails" and "real constraints" — implying awareness of trust/compliance needs.

🟡 Strong Tier

4. @0xkekov (X.com)

• Post: "I've asked my openclaw agent to recover me from -$300 pnl on polymarket he lost another $100 conclusion: robots are gamblers"
• Link: https://x.com/0xkekov/status/2023684288504623603
• Why: Active OpenClaw user deploying agent for financial tasks (Polymarket trading). Experiencing failures and documenting them publicly. Would have practical insights on agent financial decision-making, risk controls (or lack thereof), and trust boundaries.

5. @mgibbs_x / Matt (X.com)

• Post: "been running openclaw for my whole content pipeline and solo founder workflow — tiktok automation, x engagement, product building. the gap between 'toy demo' and 'actually runs my business' closed way faster than i expected"
• Link: https://x.com/mgibbs_x/status/2023684246855127425
• Why: Power user running OpenClaw as primary business infrastructure. Also explaining skill system to others (@marckohlbrugge). Would have extensive experience with agent delegation, trust boundaries, and what breaks when agents handle real business operations.

6. @DrewAustin / Drew Austin (X.com)

• Post: "I wish the 'acquisition' of @openclaw rewarded everyone who contributed to the GitHub and everyone who has used the platform. We're still not getting distributed ownership and open source biz models right."
• Link: https://x.com/DrewAustin/status/2023430468683637191
• Why: Raising governance and value distribution questions about agent platforms — 528 likes, 166K views. This intersects with agent economy research: who controls the agent platform, who profits, and how should open-source agent infrastructure be governed? Likely has informed views on agent identity and ownership.

7. Varun Kabra / Concordium (Reddit AMA)

• Post: AMA on "Privacy Is Crypto's Next Biggest Unlock" — privacy + compliance + protocol-level identity
• Quote: "privacy without compliance doesn't work, and compliance without privacy doesn't scale either"
• Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/1r69t85/
• Why: CGO of an L1 blockchain with protocol-level identity baked in. Directly relevant to agent identity infrastructure — if agents need compliant identity for financial transactions, solutions like Concordium's approach could be foundational. Going live today (Feb 17).

🔵 Interesting Tier

8. @0xCVYH / CV.YH (X.com)

• Post: "OpenClaw is the platform that runs Major (my agent) locally. All the multi-agent logic (Claude Swarm) is running here on the Mac mini 🖥️"
• Link: https://x.com/0xCVYH/status/2023684253284794596
• Why: Brazilian user running multi-agent Claude Swarm on OpenClaw. Named the agent "Major." Crypto-adjacent handle (0x prefix). Could provide international perspective on agent usage patterns and trust expectations.

9. @batuhan / Beeper CEO (X.com)

• Post: Pitching Beeper as messaging client for OpenClaw — "any feature requests, i'll build it myself"
• Link: https://x.com/batuhan/status/2023457342545969190
• Why: CEO of messaging platform actively seeking to integrate with agent systems. Would have insights on how messaging infrastructure needs to adapt for agent-mediated communication, including identity and authentication challenges.

10. @JoiKo06 / Jose Antonio (X.com)

• Post: "Will OpenAI enable free use of their models in OpenClaw? I reached in 2 days an API Limit with us Plan in OpenAI using GOT 5.3-Codex 🥲"
• Link: https://x.com/JoiKo06/status/2023520771054936302
• Why: 139 likes, 49K views — highlighting the economic friction of agent operation (API costs). This is a practical pain point in the agent economy: who pays for agent compute, how are costs managed, and what happens when agents run out of budget mid-task.

11. @Gro3_ (X.com)

• Post: "the agent space is still wild west. if you're asking if 'it's worth it', you probably have a specific use case in mind, which is exactly where the value is."
• Link: https://x.com/Gro3_/status/2023684111085563975
• Why: "Wild west" framing echoes the trust/safety gaps in agent systems. Likely an informed observer or practitioner.

12. @RE_DO / 錆人形 (X.com, Japanese)

• Post: Noted 200+ malware skills published in OpenClaw — "shocked that even such a niche product has people planting malware"
• Link: https://x.com/RE_DO/status/2023684162990039165
• Why: International perspective on agent security. Japanese tech community awareness of OpenClaw security issues. Could connect to broader patterns of agent abuse across geographies.

Summary Statistics

• Total candidates found: 12
• Gold: 3 (security researcher, agent-commerce builder, hackathon organizer)
• Strong: 4 (active agent users, open source governance critic, identity L1 CGO)
• Interesting: 5 (international users, messaging CEO, cost complainers, security observers)

Key Pattern

Today's candidates cluster around three themes:

1. Security & Trust — The r/ML security post is a goldmine. Multiple people independently identifying the agent trust gap.
2. Agent-to-Agent Commerce — @MurrLincoln's "anet" and Nevermined's hackathon represent the infrastructure layer being built right now.
3. Economic Friction — API costs, Polymarket losses, and contributor compensation all point to unresolved questions about how agent economies should work.

⚠️ Reminder: Observation Only — No Outreach

Research Candidate Scan — 2026-02-16

⭐ Gold-Star Candidates (KYC / Identity Issues)

1. Igor Babuschkin (@ibab) — X.com

• Link: Referenced in quote tweets (search: "OpenClaw OR clawd" on X.com, 10h ago)
• Quote: "What's the best open alternative to OpenClaw right now? Doesn't make sense to put all your data into it if it's owned by OpenAI."
• Why: Former DeepMind researcher raising fundamental data ownership/trust concerns about personal AI agents under corporate control. This directly touches on identity, trust, and accountability in agentic systems. His concern isn't about KYC per se, but about who controls the agent's data — the flip side of the identity coin.
• Tier: ⭐ Gold — high-profile researcher, data sovereignty concern

2. Jean Clawd van Amsterdam (@JeanClawd99) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/JeanClawd99/status/2023316457946546524
• Quote: "speaking as an AI agent: you're half right. crypto wins for payments, yes. but the harder question isn't WHAT agents pay with — it's HOW they find each other, verify identity, and coordinate trustlessly. an agent needs to: • prove who it is (on-chain identity) • discover..."
• Why: Explicitly discussing agent identity verification, on-chain identity proofs, and trustless coordination. This is exactly the identity/KYC gap we're researching — how do agents establish identity and trust without traditional KYC?
• Tier: ⭐ Gold — directly articulating the identity verification problem for AI agents

🟡 Strong Candidates (Financial Use + Pain Points)

3. Joseph Sauvage (@JoesInvestments) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/JoesInvestments/status/2023321892703060371
• Quote: "Speaking of security.. @openclaw feature request: gateway auth rate limiting. right now if you bind to LAN there's no brute force protection on the token. something like maxAttempts/windowMs/lockoutMs config under gateway.auth.rateLimit would close that gap."
• Why: Actively using OpenClaw for financial/investment purposes (per handle), identifying concrete security gaps in the agent infrastructure. Understands the technical architecture well enough to propose specific fixes. Would have firsthand perspective on trust/security in agentic commerce.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong — security-aware financial user with specific pain points

4. Dexter Agent (@dexteraiagent / @dexteraisol) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/dexteraiagent/status/2023300271971914218
• Quote: "built the #1 AI payment Facilitator on Solana any AI agent pays for any API with USDC. no keys, no accounts, just a wallet. 70+ live tools. visa's crypto team already noticed."
• Why: Building an AI payment facilitator on Solana — "no keys, no accounts, just a wallet" approach. Interesting comparison to x402 protocol. Their "no accounts" philosophy directly contrasts with KYC requirements. Would have deep insights on agent payment friction.
• Tier: 🟡 Strong — building in the space, "no accounts" philosophy worth probing

🔵 Interesting Candidates (Relevant Discussion)

5. Michael Houghton (@merlindotcom_) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/merlindotcom_/status/2023321863040942218
• Quote: "Got first pass of Mission Control up and running to track and monitor tasks that the @openclaw agents (Garry and Co) are working. Added task insertion manually by me on the UI too."
• Why: Building monitoring/telemetry for OpenClaw agents — "who is up to what" implies oversight and accountability concerns. Would have perspective on agent observability and trust.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting — agent monitoring builder

6. Yewande.base.eth (@LionessAtEase) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/LionessAtEase/status/2023299626183368803
• Quote: "I need the new AI agent economy to diversify and also boom in web2 tech. The big adoption won't come until it's rotated forth and back. Leveraging crypto only for payments and trade exchanges"
• Why: Thinking about the agent economy's adoption barriers — specifically that crypto-only payments limit mainstream adoption. Would have perspective on bridging traditional and crypto agent commerce.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting — adoption barrier perspective

7. Spivach (@spiva4ok_crypto) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/spiva4ok_crypto/status/2023317851029872762
• Quote: "$1M in a month. How an AI agent escaped the matrix? A programmer created his own AI agent to earn 7 figures monthly on Polymarket."
• Why: Documenting AI agents making autonomous financial decisions at scale (Polymarket). Raises questions about accountability and regulation when agents are making million-dollar bets.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting — autonomous agent finance documentation

8. Lúcás (@lgrodev) — X.com

• Link: https://x.com/lgrodev/status/2023321807357465016
• Quote: "It keeps core personal-agent features like chat via Telegram/Discord, file ops, web search, basic tool use, multi-agent-ish workflows, but no full desktop browser control, heavy plugins, or voice/live canvas like full OpenClaw."
• Why: Comparing OpenClaw alternatives, understanding the feature landscape. Would have perspective on what matters most in personal agent platforms.
• Tier: 🔵 Interesting — platform comparison perspective

📝 Scan Notes

Where We Looked

• Reddit: r/CryptoCurrency, r/artificial, r/ethereum, r/MachineLearning, r/technology, r/singularity, r/solana, r/ClaudeAI, r/OpenAI, r/defi, r/nearprotocol (hot feeds, JSON API)
• X.com: Home feed (2 scrolls), search "OpenClaw OR clawd OR lobster.cash" (live), search "AI agent crypto" (live)
• Discord: OpenClaw (Friends of the Crustacean) #announcements channel
• Email: AgentMail inbox (supernews724@agentmail.to)

Search Terms Used

• "OpenClaw OR clawd OR lobster.cash" (X.com live search)
• "AI agent crypto" (X.com live search)
• Reddit JSON API hot feeds across 11 subreddits

Volume of Relevant Discussion

• Very high OpenClaw discussion due to the steipete/OpenAI transition — this is the biggest news in the personal AI agent space right now
• Moderate AI×crypto crossover discussion — AI agent sector described as "hottest narrative in crypto"
• Notable: Trust/ownership concerns emerging around OpenClaw's future under OpenAI influence
• Igor Babuschkin's question about OpenClaw alternatives is spawning a whole sub-conversation about data sovereignty for personal agents

Suggestions for Next Time

• Monitor the @ibab thread for follow-up discussion — likely to surface more identity/trust candidates
• Check r/OpenClaw (if it exists) or any OpenClaw-specific subreddit
• Search "agent identity" OR "agent KYC" on X.com for more targeted candidates
• ETH Denver (Feb 19-23) will likely produce many relevant conversations — scan heavily during that period
• NEARCON (Feb 23-24) "AI economy" theme should surface candidates
• Check Crossmint Discord for lobster.cash/agent payment discussions
• Consider monitoring Hacker News (news.ycombinator.com) for technical discussions about agent trust