AI Agents Will Drive Crypto's Growth, Says Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argues that artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency are complementary technologies rather than competitors. According to him, AI enhances crypto's importance by making it more necessary for autonomous agents to function.

Armstrong claims that AI agents will eventually transact far more per day than all humans combined. They'll need a way to move money in real-time, programmatically, and without waiting for banks to open.

The Coinbase CEO is building the infrastructure to support this vision through his company's x402 protocol and Base, a Layer 2 network built on Ethereum. USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, facilitates the majority of agentic payments using these platforms.