Alchemy CEO Claims Crypto is Better Suited for AI Agents Than Humans

The current financial system was not created with machines in mind, but rather around human constraints such as geographical location, sleep patterns, paperwork, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in the economy, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, stated Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of the crypto firm Alchemy. "One could argue that crypto was designed for AI agents, not humans," Viswanathan said. The disparity is evident everywhere: banks have limited hours due to human limitations, payments are tied to countries where people reside, and credit cards require physical identification and presence. In contrast, AI agents operate differently; they do not sleep, have no physical location, and do not use banks or credit cards. Moreover, they are increasingly involved in transactions, not just assisting with tasks. All transactions for agents are online and inherently global, Viswanathan explained in an interview with CoinDesk. This is where crypto begins to resemble the native infrastructure for a new type of economic actor, rather than an alternative financial system. Alchemy, a crypto infrastructure company, provides developers with the necessary tools and services to build blockchain-based applications, including APIs, node infrastructure, and data services. Traditional finance is based on the assumption of friction, where cross-border payments involve currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. For humans, this is normal, but for AI agents, it is impractical. Agents require seamless transactions across borders, often in small increments, and need programmability and direct control over money via code, without relying on physical infrastructure or identity. Crypto provides exactly that: a global, always-on financial layer where value can be transferred as easily as data, Viswanathan stated. The complexity that has long made crypto challenging for humans, including seed phrases, private keys, and interacting directly with code, is precisely what makes it powerful for machines. Unlike humans, agents operate natively in code and read in zeros and ones, which is also the language of crypto. For years, crypto has attempted to become more human-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never designed for humans. Viswanathan compared the shift from crypto tools being built primarily for humans to crypto tools being used by AI agents to the transition from the postal system to the internet. While people once had to physically write and mail letters to communicate globally, modern communication is much faster. "Email is far more powerful than the postal system because it is designed for computers," Viswanathan said. "Crypto is similar." Moving forward, AI agents will utilize crypto infrastructure, handling complexity automatically, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, allowing people to control their funds more easily. The result will be a financial system that is more global, programmable, and autonomous. Viswanathan envisions a layered future: traditional finance and crypto as the base, an agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that. "Just like computers operate the internet and humans use it, agents will operate finance," he said.