AI Agents May Favor Closed Systems Over Public Blockchains
Fidelity Digital Assets has identified six risks that could weaken the investment case connecting artificial intelligence agents with public blockchains. The report, published on August 19 by Senior Research Analyst Max Wadington, highlights potential issues in the AI-agent thesis. One of the main concerns is that closed technology and fintech platforms may offer better performance, costs, distribution, and compliance certainty than public blockchains.
The report also notes that payments generated by AI agents could increase blockchain activity but direct more economic value towards stablecoin issuers and services. Furthermore, AI can accelerate software development while making vulnerabilities cheaper for attackers to discover and exploit.
According to the report, trading generates significantly more revenue than payments on public blockchains. For example, during a 180-day period, trading produced 49 times more Ethereum base layer revenue per dollar of volume than payments. This could indicate that agents managing capital have stronger economic potential.