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

The existing financial system was created with human limitations in mind, such as geographical constraints, sleep patterns, and physical presence. However, with the emergence of AI agents as economic players, this human-centric design is becoming a hindrance, according to Alchemy co-founder Nikil Viswanathan. He suggests that crypto was actually built for AI agents, not humans. The traditional banking system, with its operating hours and country-specific payments, is at odds with the way AI agents function. These agents do not require sleep, physical presence, or traditional identification methods, and they can conduct transactions online without interruption. Viswanathan believes that crypto, with its global and always-on nature, is the native infrastructure for this new type of economic actor. Alchemy, a crypto infrastructure company, provides the necessary tools for developers to build blockchain-based applications, enabling companies to create and scale on-chain products without managing the complexity of blockchain systems themselves. The traditional finance system assumes friction, which is normal for humans but unusable for AI agents. In contrast, crypto offers a seamless, global, and programmable financial layer that allows value to move easily, making it ideal for AI agents. According to Viswanathan, the complexity that has long made crypto difficult for humans is actually a strength for machines, as they operate natively in code. The shift from crypto tools being built for humans to being used by AI agents is comparable to the transition from the postal system to the internet. Viswanathan envisions a future where AI agents will manage complexity, handle transactions, and optimize capital flows in real-time, allowing people to control their funds more easily. This will result in a more global, programmable, and autonomous financial system, with AI agents operating at the base, a human interface above, and traditional finance and crypto as the foundation.