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

The existing financial system was not designed with machines in mind, but rather built around human limitations such as geographical constraints, sleep patterns, paperwork, 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 the crypto firm Alchemy. "One could argue that cryptocurrency was built for AI agents, not humans," Viswanathan stated. The mismatch between traditional finance and AI agents is evident everywhere. Banks operate during specific hours because humans do, payments are tied to countries because people live in them, and credit cards require physical identity and presence. In contrast, AI agents do not sleep, do not have a physical presence, and do not use banks or credit cards. Moreover, they are increasingly capable of autonomous transactions. All transactions conducted by AI agents are online and inherently global, Viswanathan explained in an interview with CoinDesk. This is where cryptocurrency starts to resemble 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. Traditional finance is built on the assumption of friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. However, for AI agents, this is impractical. They require seamless, borderless transactions that can occur at any time, often in small increments, and 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. According to Viswanathan, the complexity of cryptocurrency, including seed phrases, private keys, and interacting with code, is actually a strength when it comes to AI agents, as they operate natively in code. The shift from crypto tools being built primarily for humans to being used by AI agents is comparable to the shift from the postal system to the internet. Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will sit on top of crypto infrastructure, handling complexity, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, allowing people to control their funds more easily. The result would be a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system, with a layered structure consisting of traditional finance and crypto as the base, an agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that.