One January night, a new token and the first people to notice.
Gimme the normal version1 MIN READ
THE FIRST SIGNALOriginal editorial illustration · Ribbit Hole
One January evening.
On the evening of 11 January 2025, Ribbita launched on Base. Base is a blockchain: a shared public record of transactions. The launch went through Virtuals, a platform for AI agent projects. The token was called TIBBIR, and its short description read “A super fintech investor.”
Earlier that day, 0.1 ETH had arrived in the wallet used for the launch. ETH is a cryptocurrency, and a wallet is the tool that controls it. Remember that payment. It comes back in the next chapter.
A fast first night.
About four hours later, just after midnight, TIBBIR “graduated”. That is Virtuals’ word for moving from the first launch stage into a wider market. Soon after, Ribbita was also registered as an agent, with an identity of its own that is separate from the token people trade.
FOLLOW THE FIRST SIGNAL
A launch has more than one moving part.
01 / Funding
A starting balance.
The retained investigation follows the payment into the launch wallet.
02 / Launch
Ribbita appears.
The Virtuals record names the agent, token and fintech description.
03 / Graduation
The next trading stage.
Graduation changes the platform stage; it is one event in a longer history.
04 / Community
People start connecting clues.
Early posts make the first interpretations visible, with the original researchers credited.
The original records give each step its own date and meaning.Editorial illustration · AI-generated artwork
The first people to notice.
People spotted the clues fast. Tetra pointed to the fintech description. Minutes before graduation, Crypto_Nolt linked the project to Ribbit’s investment history.
In the months that followed, researchers such as Altcoinist and FrogHybrid turned those first hunches into a bigger picture: what kind of service could sit behind this token? Ribbit Hole builds on their work by checking the records underneath.
THE STORY IS JUST BEGINNING.
Keep following the story.
Original sources, earlier discoveries, and the work still taking shape.