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

The current financial system was not designed with machines in mind, but rather around human limitations such as geographical constraints, sleep patterns, and the need for physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in the economy, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of the crypto firm Alchemy. Viswanathan suggests that cryptocurrency was actually built for AI agents, not humans. The traditional financial system is filled with human-centric limitations, such as banks having operating hours and payments being tied to specific countries. In contrast, AI agents do not require rest, have no physical presence, and do not use credit cards. They are also capable of conducting transactions on their own. As Viswanathan pointed out, all transactions for AI agents are online and inherently global. This is where cryptocurrency starts to emerge as the native infrastructure for a new type of economic actor, rather than just an alternative financial system. Alchemy, as 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, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, and fees. However, for AI agents, this is not feasible. They 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 move as easily as data. What has long made cryptocurrency challenging for humans, such as seed phrases and private keys, is actually what makes it powerful for machines. Unlike humans, AI agents operate natively in code and can read zeros and ones. For years, cryptocurrency has tried to become more human-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never intended for humans. Viswanathan compares the shift from crypto tools being built for humans to 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. Moving forward, AI agents will utilize crypto infrastructure, handling complexity, managing wallets, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, allowing people to control their funds more easily. The result will be a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system, with a layered future consisting of traditional finance and crypto as the base, an agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that.