AI and Cryptos: A Complementary Future

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes that the importance of cryptocurrencies will increase as artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue to develop. He stated on social media platform X that AI and cryptocurrencies are not competing technologies, but rather complementary infrastructures.

Armstrong emphasized that AI has become one of the most important technological trends of our time, yet the value proposition of cryptocurrencies continues to strengthen. According to him, cryptocurrency technology is a kind of general-purpose infrastructure, like electricity or the internet, and will be one of the fundamental tools for AI systems to conduct financial transactions in the future.

The need for digital assets will increase, especially with the proliferation of autonomous AI agents, Armstrong argued. Current financial systems are not fully adaptable to this new technology. He stated that AI agents cannot open bank accounts or wait for international money transfers to be completed, therefore cryptocurrencies offer a significant advantage as a real-time and programmable payment system.

In the future, AI agents will not only make payments; they will also be able to independently perform numerous economic activities such as fund management, investment transactions, trading, financial advisory, and capital raising. In this scenario, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will form the fundamental infrastructure enabling AI systems to conduct secure and seamless financial transactions.