When Machines Become Crypto’s Best Customers
We’ve known for a while now: crypto has never really convinced the average person to use it daily to buy their coffee. But a new theory is emerging, notably championed by Alchemy’s CEO: what if it’s simply the wrong audience? According to him, cryptocurrencies are actually tailor-made for artificial intelligence agents, not for humans.
The idea might seem counterintuitive at first glance. But think about it: an AI agent doesn’t need a user-friendly banking interface, won’t complain about transaction fees, and won’t spend twenty minutes looking for its password. It can execute thousands of micropayments in seconds, autonomously, without intermediaries. The blockchain, with its smart contracts and open architecture, becomes an ideal infrastructure for these new digital entities.
Jesse Pollak (Coinbase) Confirms: AI Agents Are the Next Wave
This vision resonates loudly at Coinbase. Jesse Pollak, a central figure at the exchange platform, agrees: AI agents represent the next major revolution for cryptocurrency payments, in his view. And it’s not just corridor gossip: Coinbase is actively working on infrastructure enabling these agents to interact directly with blockchain protocols.
In concrete terms, imagine computer programs capable of negotiating contracts, paying digital service providers, or optimizing asset portfolios, all entirely automatically and in a decentralized manner. No need for human validation at each step — the agent manages, the agent pays, the agent adjusts. For industry optimists, this marks the dawn of a machine-to-machine economy that could finally give crypto the real-world use case it’s been missing for years.
Of course, this also raises questions that make regulators break into a cold sweat: who’s responsible when an AI agent executes a fraudulent transaction? How do you regulate entities that, by definition, have no legal status? These are open challenges the industry will have to face.
Trump, Tyson, and Tether: An Unlikely Trio Defending Crypto
While engineers debate blockchain’s machine-powered future, the American political scene is taking on a… more colorful turn. Donald Trump indeed spoke at a private event to defend pro-crypto legislation being developed in the United States. So far, nothing unusual for a president who’s made crypto one of his flagship issues.
But the atmosphere of the evening, well, deserves a closer look: among the participants were Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether (the issuer of the world’s most widely used stablecoin), and also… boxer Mike Tyson. We can’t say exactly what Iron Mike brings to the digital assets regulation debate, but his presence perfectly illustrates the strange mix of genres that characterizes the crypto ecosystem: between cutting-edge finance, top-level politics, and uninhibited pop culture.
On substance, Trump reaffirmed his support for a legislative framework favorable to cryptocurrencies, in a context where Congress is working on several potentially landmark bills for the industry. Tether’s presence is not insignificant: the company, long closely scrutinized by regulators, has every interest in weighing in on political discussions that could define the rules of the game for stablecoins.
An Industry at a Crossroads
What this week reveals is a crypto industry mutating on two fronts simultaneously. On one side, a silent technological revolution: the emergence of AI agents as full-fledged actors in the digital economy, with blockchain as the backbone. On the other, a political and regulatory battle playing out in Washington’s hushed halls — and apparently also at private parties with former world boxing champions.
The paradox is delicious: while some ecosystem thinkers explain to us that crypto is above all made for machines, humans, meanwhile, are stirring more than ever to control its rules. Maybe that’s it, ultimately, the real summary of crypto in 2026: algorithms that pay, politicians that legislate, and somewhere in between, millions of retail investors trying to understand what’s happening.
One thing is certain: the idea that crypto is a “niche” technology definitely belongs to the past. Whether through AI agents, stablecoins, or legislative debates at the highest level, cryptocurrencies are now at the heart of the major economic and political transformations of our era. The question is no longer if they’ll transform the financial system, but how — and above all, who will write the rules.