Crypto 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 geography, sleep patterns, and physical presence. However, as AI agents start to participate in the economy, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of the crypto firm Alchemy. "You can argue that crypto was built for AI agents, not humans," Viswanathan said. The disparity is evident everywhere: banks have limited hours due to human operation, payments are tied to countries because humans live in them, and credit cards require physical identity and presence. In contrast, AI agents operate around the clock, have no physical presence, and do not use traditional banking systems 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. This is where crypto starts to appear as 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 based on the assumption of friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees, which is normal for humans but impractical for AI agents. AI agents require seamless, borderless transactions at any time, often in small increments, and need programmability, direct control over money via code, and systems that do not rely on physical infrastructure or identity. Crypto offers exactly that: a global, always-on financial layer where value can move as easily as data, according to Viswanathan. What has long made crypto challenging for humans, including seed phrases, private keys, and interacting directly with code, is precisely what makes it powerful for machines. Unlike humans, AI agents operate natively in code and read in zeros and ones, which is also the language of crypto. For years, crypto has attempted to become more human-friendly, but its underlying architecture was never truly built for humans. Viswanathan compared the shift from crypto tools being built primarily for humans to crypto tools being used by AI agents to the shift from the postal system to the internet. Looking ahead, AI agents will sit on top of crypto 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, with a layered future consisting of traditional finance and crypto as the base, an agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that.