Crypto Infrastructure is Better Suited for AI Agents than Humans, According to Alchemy's CEO

The existing financial system was designed around human constraints such as geographical location, sleep patterns, and physical presence. However, as AI agents become increasingly involved in economic activities, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of the crypto firm Alchemy. Viswanathan suggests that crypto was inherently designed for AI agents, not humans. The disparity is evident in various aspects of traditional finance, such as banking hours, country-based payments, and credit cards, which are all tailored to human needs. In contrast, AI agents operate around the clock, are not bound by geographical locations, and do not require physical identities or presence. They are capable of conducting transactions online, making them inherently global. Viswanathan believes that crypto is poised to become the native infrastructure for AI agents, providing a seamless, global, and programmable financial layer. Traditional finance is built on friction, with cross-border transactions involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, and fees, which is impractical for AI agents. Crypto, on the other hand, offers a frictionless and always-on financial system that allows for direct control over money via code. The complexity of crypto, which has long been a hurdle for humans, is actually a strength when it comes to AI agents, as they operate natively in code. Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will utilize crypto infrastructure to manage complexity, handle transactions, and optimize capital flows in real-time, ultimately creating a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system.