Crypto Infrastructure Better Suited for AI Agents Than Humans, According to Alchemy CEO

The existing financial system was designed with human constraints such as geographical location, sleep patterns, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in economic activities, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of Alchemy. Viswanathan argues that cryptocurrency was essentially built for AI agents, not humans. The traditional banking system has limitations such as operating hours, country-specific payments, and credit cards that require physical identity and presence. In contrast, AI agents do not require sleep, physical location, or traditional identification methods. They can transact online, globally, and without interruption. As AI agents increasingly drive economic activities, cryptocurrency starts to emerge as the native financial infrastructure for these new economic participants. Alchemy, a crypto infrastructure company, provides the necessary tools and services for developers to build blockchain-based applications, enabling companies to create and scale on-chain products without managing the complexity of blockchain systems themselves. Traditional finance is built on the assumption of friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, and fees. However, for AI agents, this friction is a significant obstacle. They require seamless, programmable, and direct control over funds via code, without relying on physical infrastructure or traditional identity verification. Cryptocurrency offers exactly that - a global, always-on financial layer where value can move as easily as data. The complexity of cryptocurrency, including seed phrases, private keys, and code interaction, is actually a strength when it comes to AI agents, as they operate natively in code. Viswanathan compares the shift from human-centric crypto tools to AI-centric crypto tools 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 more suitable for AI agents. Looking ahead, Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will operate on top of crypto infrastructure, handling complexity, managing wallets, and optimizing capital flows in real-time, making it easier for people to control their funds. This will result in a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system, with a layered structure consisting of traditional finance, crypto, an agent layer, and a human interface.