Here are some of the most ambitious use cases users have proposed for OpenClaw, the AI agent formerly known as MoltBot and Clawdbot.
In the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence, a week is a long time. For OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot and then MoltBot), the last seven days have been a lesson in viral growth, but trademark disputes and a series of incidents have tainted its potential.
What started as a niche tool for developers turned into a cautionary tale of “The Great Molt” – a name change that saw millions of dollars disappear in minutes while simultaneously cementing OpenClaw as a potential game-changer for crypto-degens.
What is OpenClaw?
It can:
- Control your browser
- Run terminal commands
- Plan and execute tasks independently
- Communicate with you via WhatsApp or Telegram.
Its “local first” architecture means your private data never leaves your server, a feature that has made it popular among privacy-conscious crypto-natives.
It launched publicly in November 2025, but did not gain attention until December 2025 following the success of Anthropic’s Claude Code.
The “moult”
OpenClaw’s rise to fame has not been without hiccups. The project was originally called Clawdbot, but it received a trademark application from AI development company Anthropic due to its similarity to their large language model “Claude”.
The team settled on the name MoltBot – a metaphor for a lobster that sheds its shell in order to grow.
But the transition turned into a disaster when the team attempted to swap social media handles.
In the few seconds that passed between abandoning the old handle @clawdbot and reclaiming the new one, professional “snipers” took it over.
Source: Pierre Steinberger
The consequences were immediate and devastating. The fraudsters used the hacked X account to launch a fake CLAWD token on Solana. It reached a market cap of $16 million in a matter of hours, but plummeted to near zero when Steinberger publicly clarified that he had nothing to do with it.
Crypto Use Cases for OpenClaw
Here are some of the most ambitious use cases proposed by users so far.
Polymarket Yield Sniper
With this execution loop, Polymarket traders can reduce the lag that typically costs them the best entry. The practical result is fewer “human delays” and more opportunities to profit from pricing errors, a benefit normally reserved for teams running institutional-level bots.
Source: Move around
Independent Researcher/Trader
Source: Legendary
That said, it’s important to separate the hype from reality. Most of the positive results are unsubstantiated, but the proof of concept is there.
Don’t have time to familiarize yourself with OpenClaw? Try CMC AI.
Large-scale passive airdrop farming
Source: Performance bonus
Because OpenClaw runs locally, it can maintain persistent sessions across multiple browser profiles without triggering “bot detection” as easily as cloud-based scripts. Some people are already using it to bypass the typical Sybil defenses used by many airdrop campaigns.
The result is greater consistency and less manual effort, transforming tedious work into a systematic workflow, although at the expense of projects seeking true user engagement.
Chain Sentinel
Another unique OpenClaw crypto workflow runs it as a 24/7 market sentinel.
Source: Mugi
Instead of manually refreshing dashboards, the bot uses loops to analyze, detect, alert (and maybe even execute) automatically, giving you an advantage over those who are still doing it “the old-fashioned way.”
Crypto and agentic economics
If the agentic economy takes off, what will agents use to complete their transactions?
As agents begin to “do business” for us, will crypto become their default payment layer? So far, the case is compelling.
Further reading: 5 ways AI agents could actually make your life easier in 2026
This article contains links to third party websites or other content for informational purposes only (“Third Party Sites”). Third Party Sites are not under the control of CoinMarketCap, and CoinMarketCap is not responsible for the contents of any Third Party Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Third Party Site, or any changes or updates to a Third Party Site. CoinMarketCap is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by CoinMarketCap of the site or any association with its operators. This article is intended to be used and should be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any important decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article does not constitute and should not be construed as financial advice. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author (of the company) and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.
