Alchemy CEO Claims Crypto Was Designed for AI, Not Humans

The current financial system was not developed with machines in mind, but rather around human limitations such as geographical location, sleep patterns, paperwork, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in the economy, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Alchemy co-founder Nikil Viswanathan. "One could argue that cryptocurrency was built for AI agents, not humans," Viswanathan stated. The disparity is evident everywhere: banks have limited hours due to human constraints, payments are tied to countries where people reside, and credit cards require physical identification and presence. AI agents, on the other hand, operate differently as they do not 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 involving agents are online and inherently global, Viswanathan explained. This is where cryptocurrency starts to appear less like an alternative financial system and more like the native infrastructure for a new type of economic entity. 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 friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. However, for AI agents, this is impractical. Agents require seamless transactions across borders, often in small increments, and need programmability, direct control over money 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. The complexity that has long made cryptocurrency challenging for humans, including seed phrases, private keys, and interacting directly with code, is precisely what makes it powerful for machines, Viswanathan noted. Unlike humans, 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 user-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never truly designed for humans. Viswanathan compared the shift from cryptocurrency tools being built primarily for humans to tools being used by AI agents to the transition from the postal system to the internet. While people once had to physically write letters, buy stamps, and mail them to share messages globally, modern communication is much faster. Email is more powerful than the postal system because it is designed for computers, and cryptocurrency is similar, Viswanathan said. Moving forward, AI agents will operate on top of cryptocurrency infrastructure, handling complexity automatically, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, allowing people to control their funds more easily. The result will be a financial system that is more global, programmable, and autonomous. Viswanathan envisions 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 stated.