Crypto Designed for AI Agents, Not Humans, According to Alchemy CEO

The current financial system was never intended for machine-based transactions. Instead, it was built around human limitations such as geographical constraints, sleep patterns, and physical presence. However, with AI agents increasingly participating in economic activities, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of crypto firm Alchemy. "You can argue that cryptocurrency was built for AI agents, not humans," Viswanathan stated. The disparity between traditional finance and AI agents is evident everywhere. Banks have limited operating hours due to human constraints, while payments are tied to countries because of human geography. Credit cards also assume physical identity and presence, which is not applicable to AI agents. AI agents, on the other hand, operate differently. They do not require sleep, have no physical presence, and do not use traditional banking systems or credit cards. Moreover, they are increasingly capable of conducting transactions independently. "All transactions for agents are online and inherently global," Viswanathan explained in an interview with CoinDesk. This is where cryptocurrency starts to emerge as 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. These tools enable companies to create and scale on-chain products without having to manage the complexity of blockchain systems themselves. Traditional finance is built on the assumption of friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. While this may be normal for humans, it is impractical for AI agents. AI agents require seamless, borderless transactions that can be executed at any time, often in small increments. They also need programmability, direct control over funds via code, and systems that do not rely on physical infrastructure or identity. Cryptocurrency offers exactly that: a global, always-on financial layer where value can be transferred 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 actually a strength when it comes to machine-based transactions. Unlike humans, AI agents operate natively in code and can read and write in zeros and ones. "Agents read in zeros and ones. That's their native language," Viswanathan explained. "That's also the language of cryptocurrency." For years, cryptocurrency has tried to become more human-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never designed for humans in the first place. 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 and more efficient. "Email is far more powerful than the postal system because it's designed for computers," Viswanathan said. "Cryptocurrency is similar." Looking ahead, Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will sit on top of cryptocurrency infrastructure, handling complexity automatically, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real-time. This will enable people to control their funds more easily. "You can write code to manage a cryptocurrency wallet," Viswanathan said. "You can't write code to manage a bank account in the same way." The result will be a financial system that is more global, more programmable, and more autonomous. Viswanathan sees a layered future: 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.