Key facts
- Franklin Templeton's head of digital assets, Sandy Kaul, believes agentic AI will be a major driver for blockchain adoption.
- Agentic AI requires low-cost, programmable payment rails for machine-to-machine micropayments, which traditional financial networks struggle to provide.
- Kaul suggests blockchain networks are better suited for these micropayments due to their programmability, identity features, and fast settlement.
- The growth of AI agents could increase demand for cryptocurrencies used for network fees, benefiting the blockchain ecosystem.
- Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire views AI and blockchain as converging into a single economic system for autonomous value exchange.
Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and innovation at Franklin Templeton, believes that autonomous AI agents represent the next significant use case for blockchain technology. He posits that the burgeoning AI agent economy will drive demand for blockchain protocols capable of facilitating machine-to-machine micropayments, as traditional payment networks like Visa are ill-equipped to handle the speed and cost requirements of such transactions.
Kaul suggests that while many investors currently gain exposure to AI by investing in AI-aligned companies, the agentic AI economy may necessitate a different approach. He argues that blockchain networks, including Aptos, Solana, and BNB Chain, are better positioned for agentic payments due to their rapid transaction settlement times, contrasting sharply with the one-to-three business days typical of legacy card systems.
This perspective is echoed by Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who views the rise of agentic AI and blockchain as a single technological shift. Allaire suggests that AI is driving down the cost of knowledge work, while blockchain and programmable digital money are doing the same for payments, settlement, and coordination. As businesses increasingly rely on specialized AI agents, these agents will become economic actors capable of autonomously buying services, hiring other agents, and exchanging value. Blockchain networks, digital identities, and programmable money would provide the necessary infrastructure for these interactions at internet scale.
This vision extends beyond payments, with Allaire suggesting that AI-native companies could increasingly operate on-chain, using tokens for ownership and governance, and that pricing models might shift from monthly subscriptions to pay-per-task as AI agents become buyers and sellers of digital services. For investors, Kaul concludes that blockchain networks and their associated cryptocurrencies could offer a new avenue for exposure to AI's continued growth.