Alchemy CEO Claims Crypto Was Designed for AI, Not Humans

The conventional financial system was never intended for machine use, having been built around human limitations such as geographical constraints, sleep patterns, paperwork, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in the economy, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Alchemy co-founder Nikil Viswanathan. 'One could argue that cryptocurrency was created for AI agents, not humans,' Viswanathan stated. The disparity is evident everywhere: banks have limited hours due to human operation, payments are tied to countries because humans reside in them, and credit cards assume a physical identity and presence. AI agents, on the other hand, operate differently. They do not sleep, have no physical location, do not visit banks, and do not carry cards. Moreover, they are increasingly involved in transactions, not just assisting with tasks. 'All transactions for agents are conducted online and are inherently global,' Viswanathan explained in an interview with CoinDesk. This is where cryptocurrency begins to resemble the native infrastructure for a new type of economic actor, rather than an alternative financial system. Alchemy, a cryptocurrency 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 built on the assumption of friction, where cross-border payments involve currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. While this is normal for humans, it is impractical for AI agents, which require seamless transactions across borders, often in small increments, and need programmability and direct control over money via code. Cryptocurrency offers exactly that: a global, always-on financial layer where value moves as easily as data. 'Cryptocurrency is the global infrastructure for money that agents need,' Viswanathan said. The complexity of cryptocurrency, 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 their native language is zeros and ones, which is also the language of cryptocurrency. For years, cryptocurrency has attempted to become more human-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never designed for humans. Viswanathan compared the shift from cryptocurrency tools being built primarily for humans to those being used by AI agents to the transition from the postal system to the internet. While people once had to physically write a letter, buy a stamp, and mail it to share messages globally, modern communication is much faster. 'Email is far more powerful than the postal system because it is designed for computers,' Viswanathan said. 'Cryptocurrency is similar.' Moving forward, AI agents will sit on top of cryptocurrency 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, with traditional finance and cryptocurrency 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.