Could AI Agents Create a New Crypto Economy?
Agentic AI, autonomous systems capable of initiating, negotiating, and executing tasks with minimal human input, is poised to redefine the global economy by enabling machine-to-machine (A2A) interaction, real-time decision-making, and autonomous participation in digital markets. Unlike traditional generative AI, agentic systems operate continuously and adaptively, facilitating complex coordination without human bottlenecks. Their integration with decentralised financial infrastructure, such as cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and real-time payment layers (like Lightning), makes them ideal participants in a new machine-speed economic paradigm that traditional institutions are ill-equipped to support. These agents are expected to take on roles across finance, logistics, asset management, and cross-border payments, with the potential to create entirely new market behaviours. As agentic AI converges with blockchain, forming programmable, trust-minimised digital institutions, it not only automates existing workflows but also enables new economic models. Will Lightning Network or another digital asset underpin the Agentic AI economy?
