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

The current financial system was never intended for machine-based transactions, having been 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, says Alchemy co-founder Nikil Viswanathan. 'One could argue that cryptocurrency was designed for AI agents, not humans,' he notes. The discrepancy is evident everywhere, from banking hours to payment systems tied to specific countries, and credit cards that require physical identity and presence. In contrast, AI agents do not require rest, have no physical location, and do not use traditional banking systems or credit cards. Moreover, they are increasingly capable of executing transactions autonomously. 'All transactions for agents are conducted online and are inherently global,' Viswanathan explained in an interview. This is where cryptocurrency starts to appear more like 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 based on the assumption of friction, with cross-border transactions involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, and fees. While this may be normal for humans, it is impractical for AI agents, which require seamless, programmable, and direct control over funds via code, without relying 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 zeros and ones as their native language, which is also the language of cryptocurrency. For years, cryptocurrency has attempted to become more user-friendly for humans, but its underlying architecture was never designed with humans in mind. Viswanathan compares 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. Just as email is more powerful than the postal system because it is designed for computers, cryptocurrency is similar. Looking ahead, Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will operate on top of cryptocurrency infrastructure, handling complexity automatically, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, making it easier for people to control their funds. 'You can write code to manage a cryptocurrency wallet, but you cannot do the same with a traditional bank account,' he said. The result would be a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system. 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.