AI Agents to Fuel Next Crypto Growth Wave, Says Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes that artificial intelligence (AI) agents will propel the next wave of growth in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. He argues that AI and crypto are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary technologies that can coexist and thrive together.

Armstrong pointed out that AI agents are already using stablecoins for programmable payments, which is a trend he believes will continue to grow. In fact, on Base, AI-agent traffic has surpassed human traffic, with micropayments surging in volume to 95% in just one year.

The Coinbase CEO predicts that AI agents will rely on crypto rails over traditional payment systems to complete transactions, as they will require real-time programmable money. He cited the rise of AI agents holding funds and paying for things with crypto wallets, and highlighted the use cases of AI agents trading on behalf of users with advanced functionalities around tax planning and portfolio rebalancing.

Despite Coinbase's first-mover advantage in the space, competition is heating up, with other crypto-native firms jostling for market share. Ripple has rolled out a developer toolkit for agentic payments on the XRP Ledger, and several companies are building on-chain solutions to support the incoming avalanche of agentic AI.