Alchemy CEO Claims Crypto Was Designed for AI Agents, Not Humans

The existing financial framework was not created with machines in mind. Instead, it was built around human constraints such as geographical location, sleep patterns, paperwork, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in economic activities, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, says 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 operating hours due to human limitations. Payments are tied to specific countries because humans reside in them, and credit cards require physical identification and presence. On the other hand, AI agents operate differently. They do not require 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 AI agents are online and inherently global,' Viswanathan explained in an interview with CoinDesk. This is where cryptocurrency starts to look like the native infrastructure for a new type of economic participant, 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 built on the assumption of friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchange, intermediaries, delays, and fees. While this may be normal for humans, it is impractical for AI agents. They require seamless, borderless transactions at any time, often in small increments, and need programmability and direct control over funds via code. 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 AI agents need,' Viswanathan said. The complexity of cryptocurrency, including seed phrases and private keys, which can be challenging for humans, is exactly what makes it powerful for machines. Unlike humans, AI agents operate natively in code and can read 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 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. '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 write code to manage a bank account in the same way,' Viswanathan 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 AI agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that. 'Just like computers operate the internet and humans use it, AI agents will operate finance,' he said.