Alchemy CEO: Cryptocurrency Was Designed for AI, Not Humans

The current financial system was not designed with machines in mind. Instead, it was built around human limitations such as geographical location, sleep patterns, paperwork, and physical presence. However, as AI agents begin to participate in the economy, 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 said. The disparity is evident everywhere: banks have limited hours due to human constraints, payments are tied to countries because people live in them, and credit cards require physical identity and presence. AI agents, on the other hand, do not sleep, do not have a physical location, and do not use banks 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 noted. This is where cryptocurrency starts to look more like 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 based on friction, with cross-border payments involving currency exchanges, intermediaries, delays, and fees. However, for AI agents, this is impractical. They require seamless, borderless transactions at any time, often in small increments, as well as programmability and direct control over funds via code. Cryptocurrency offers exactly that: a global, always-on financial layer where value can be transferred as easily as data. The complexity of cryptocurrency, including seed phrases, private keys, and interacting with code, is actually a strength when it comes to AI agents, which operate natively in code. Viswanathan compared the shift from crypto tools being built for humans to being used by AI agents 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 similar. In the future, AI agents will sit on top of crypto infrastructure, handling complexity, managing wallets, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real time, making it easier for people to control their funds. The result will be a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system, with a layered structure consisting of traditional finance and crypto at the base, an agent layer operating on top, and a human interface above that.