Ethereum to Host Most Financial Activity Conducted by AI Agents

Joseph Chalom, CEO of SharpLink, believes that Ethereum's ecosystem is well-positioned to handle most financial activity conducted by artificial intelligence agents. As stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and decentralized finance continue to expand their roles, AI agents could use blockchain infrastructure to lend or pledge tokenized assets as collateral for borrowing. They could also compare interest rates, risk, and tax effects across markets before deciding whether to retain, lend, borrow against, or transfer assets.

Chalom notes that hundreds of millions of stablecoin payments between AI agents have already settled through networks including Base and Solana. Additionally, over 10,000 agents registered on Ethereum's ERC-8004 identity protocol during its first 10 weeks. According to Chalom's team's modeling, more than $1 trillion annually in global financial-services revenue could be redistributed by 2030, rising to $4 trillion annually by 2035.

The shift to AI-driven financial activity could also reduce fees, with Chalom estimating that users could save $350 billion annually by 2030 and $1.4 trillion by 2035, amounts that would eliminate nearly one-quarter of fees across the global financial industry. However, Chalom warns that infrastructure ownership could determine which companies control AI agents and their customers, with firms like Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Circle, Tether, Coinbase, and Binance competing in the market.