Ethereum Poised to Benefit from Rise of Artificial Intelligence, Analysts Predict

Two prominent analysts, Tom Lee and Jordi Visser, have made independent predictions that Ethereum (ETH) will benefit from the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). According to their research, AI agents will drive demand for a programmable settlement currency like ETH.

Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, points out that AI agents need a gas token with no sovereign counterparty risk and continuous availability. ETH fulfills this role as both the gas token required to execute operations on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and an asset that can be locked as collateral in staking and decentralized finance protocols.

Lee projects that the combination of reduced issuance rates after The Merge and sustained transactional volume driven by AI agents will turn ETH into a net deflationary asset for prolonged periods. He also expects institutional flows through spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to contribute to buying pressure on the underlying asset.

Jordi Visser, former Chief Investment Officer of Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisors, has formulated a thesis of crypto asset market capitalization reordering that he calls the 'AI Flippening.' Visser argues that AI will cause a shift in the value hierarchy between Bitcoin and Ethereum because autonomous agents demand a programmable settlement layer.

Visser structures his reasoning on three pillars: settlement of payments in stablecoins, verifiable identity for non-human agents, and displacement of institutional trust toward verifiable code. He believes that ETH's dual function as gas token and asset will make it the reserve asset of an algorithmic settlement economy.