The Rise of AI-Powered Crypto: A New Era for Financial Advisors

The emergence of AI agents has transformed the financial sector, with these autonomous systems executing transactions and driving the growth of 'agentic finance.' In this article, Vincent Chok from First Digital explores the rise of AI agents, their role in crypto, and the implications for financial advisors. The use of AI agents has become increasingly prevalent, with 79% of companies adopting them in some form, according to a recent PwC survey. Initially, AI agents were used for advisory roles, but they are now evolving to execute financial transactions, making crypto the essential financial backend for these machine-driven economies. The concept of agentic finance can be broken down into three layers: agentic commerce, agentic payments, and asset management. AI agents are using crypto to access programmable, always-on money, enable instant and global settlement, and provide permissionless access to funds. This has led to various use cases, including machine-to-machine payments, autonomous commerce, and trading agents. However, there are also risks associated with AI agents, such as security concerns and regulatory uncertainty. To address these risks, it is essential to build trust and establish regulatory clarity. In the next 12 months, the growth of AI-driven transaction volume, the emergence of agent-native wallets and payments protocols, and deeper integration between stablecoins and AI-driven systems will be crucial. Ultimately, AI agents are poised to drive the adoption of crypto, and financial advisors must stay informed about this rapidly evolving landscape. In a special 'Ask an Expert' segment, three leading AI models share their insights on the present and future of AI payments, highlighting the need for standardized agent identity, governance, and high-quality real-time data infrastructure.