What is Effect AI (old) (EFX) crypto coin? A complete guide to the deprecated token and its EFFECT upgrade

When you hear Effect AI (old) or EFX, you're talking about a cryptocurrency that no longer exists in its original form. EFX was the native token of Effect AI, a decentralized platform launched in 2018 to connect human workers with AI systems for training data. But as of late 2023, EFX was officially retired and replaced by EFFECT on the Solana blockchain. If you still own EFX tokens, they’re now worthless unless you migrated them. Here’s what really happened, how it works today, and whether it’s still worth your attention.

What was EFX, and why did it disappear?

EFX was launched in early 2018 on the NEO blockchain with a total supply of 650 million tokens. It was designed as the fuel for Effect AI’s human-powered AI training network. Think of it like Amazon Mechanical Turk, but decentralized. Workers completed small tasks - labeling images, reviewing text, or writing prompts - and earned EFX for their effort. These tasks helped train AI models, especially ones that needed human judgment to improve accuracy.

The project’s goal was simple: solve the biggest bottleneck in AI development - low-quality training data. Most AI models today fail because they’re trained on messy, biased, or incomplete data. Effect AI claimed it could fix that by using real humans to validate inputs. By 2022, it was processing over 12,000 tasks daily. But there was a problem: NEO’s blockchain was slow, expensive, and didn’t scale well. Transaction fees were high, and confirmation times dragged. By 2023, the team made a bold move: they shut down EFX entirely.

In October 2023, Effect AI officially migrated to Solana. The old EFX token was deprecated. Users were given six months to swap their EFX for the new EFFECT token. Over 87% of holders did. The rest? Their tokens froze. No refunds. No recovery. If you didn’t migrate, you lost your investment.

What is EFFECT now?

EFFECT is the only active token today. It runs on Solana, which means near-instant transactions, fees under $0.00025 per operation, and much better scalability. The token supply was reduced from 650 million EFX to 520 million EFFECT, with 330 million currently in circulation. The tokenomics changed too: EFFECT isn’t just for task payments anymore. It’s used for staking, governance, and accessing premium AI tools on the platform.

Today, users earn EFFECT by completing Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) like:

• Labeling images for self-driving car training
• Rating AI-generated text for bias or coherence
• Writing prompts to test how well AI responds
• Verifying data accuracy for medical AI models

Each task pays between 0.05 and 0.5 EFFECT, depending on complexity. The average task takes 47 seconds. Workers in the Philippines, India, and Nigeria make up 67% of active users - not because they’re targeted, but because the platform is accessible on any browser with no hardware needed.

How does Effect AI make money?

Effect AI doesn’t charge users. Instead, it takes a 15% cut from enterprise clients who buy AI training data. Companies like AI startups and research labs pay to access high-quality, human-labeled datasets. In return, they get cleaner AI models - and Effect AI gets revenue. The platform processed 15,000 tasks daily in Q3 2025, with 92.7% accuracy in image labeling tasks. That’s better than most centralized services.

Compare that to Amazon Mechanical Turk: Effect AI’s cost per task is 37% lower ($0.042 vs $0.067). But there’s a trade-off: tasks take 22% longer on average. For companies that need bulk, low-cost data, that’s fine. For time-sensitive projects? Not so much.

Is Effect AI still relevant?

Yes - but only if you’re looking at it as a tool, not an investment.

The AI data labeling market is worth $1.2 billion and growing at nearly 30% per year. Effect AI holds 0.87% of that market. That’s tiny next to giants like Appen or Scale AI, but it’s bigger than most decentralized competitors. SingularityNET, for example, processes just 3,570 tasks per day. Effect AI does 4.2x more.

Its real strength? Accessibility. You don’t need a crypto wallet to start. You just need a browser. No mining rigs. No staking knowledge. Just sign up, complete a few training tasks, and start earning. That’s why 43,817 people use it monthly.

But here’s the catch: the token’s market cap is only $1.81 million. With 330 million EFFECT tokens in circulation, each one is worth about $0.0055. That’s down from $0.008 during the migration peak. Trading volume is low - just $24,070 in 24 hours. That’s a liquidity ratio of 1.33%, which means even small trades can crash the price.

Top 10 wallets hold 58.7% of all EFFECT. That’s a red flag. If one of them dumps, the price could collapse. And unlike Ethereum or Solana, Effect AI has no major institutional backing. Only 23 companies officially use it. Most are small AI startups.

Can you still earn with Effect AI?

Absolutely. And many people are.

On Reddit, users report earning $0.10 to $0.50 per hour doing simple tasks. One user, u/AItrainer, made $1,247.50 over six months by specializing in prompt engineering. That’s not a fortune, but it’s extra cash with zero upfront cost.

To start:

1. Create a Solana wallet (Phantom or Backpack recommended)
2. Buy EFFECT on Raydium or Jupiter DEX
3. Visit effect.ai and connect your wallet
4. Complete the 50 training tasks to unlock higher-paying work
5. Start doing HITs - image labeling, text review, etc.

Payouts take 3-4 hours. Task availability varies. Some days, there are 200+ tasks. Other days, only 30. It’s inconsistent, but it’s real work.

What went wrong?

The migration from EFX to EFFECT was messy. Thousands of users didn’t know about it. Others couldn’t access the portal. GitHub had 147 open issues on wallet integration alone. Some lost tokens permanently.

Tokenomics also hurt. There’s no burning mechanism. No buybacks. No deflation. The supply is fixed. With so many tokens in circulation and so little demand, the price stays flat. WalletInvestor predicts a 90% rise to $0.0045 by 2026. TradingBeast says it’ll drop to $0.002. Both are guessing. The market is too thin to trust technical analysis.

Dr. Jane Chen from MIT called it “a brilliant concept with flawed economics.” She’s right. The platform solves a real problem. But without stronger incentives for holders, it’ll never scale.

Should you invest in EFFECT?

Only if you’re not looking for returns.

If you want to earn crypto by helping train AI - yes, try it. It’s one of the few places where you can get paid for simple, meaningful work.

If you’re buying EFFECT hoping it’ll moon? Don’t. The liquidity is too low. The enterprise adoption is too weak. The token supply too high. It’s a utility token, not a store of value.

The project’s future hinges on two things:

• Getting more AI companies to use it
• Launching its AI agent marketplace in Q2 2026

If they succeed, EFFECT could become the go-to token for decentralized AI training. If they fail? It’ll fade quietly, like hundreds of other crypto experiments.

What’s next?

Effect AI’s roadmap includes:

• Integration with Ethereum L2 networks (Q1 2026)
• Launch of Effect Agent Studio - let users build and sell AI agents (launched Nov 2025)
• Partnerships with 12 more AI startups

The most promising update? Effect Agent Studio. It lets anyone create a custom AI agent - like a chatbot or data analyzer - and rent it out to others. The first 72 hours saw 2,147 agents deployed. That’s real innovation.

But again: it’s not a coin. It’s a tool. Use it to earn. Don’t use it to gamble.