The traditional financial system was built around human needs and boundaries. However, the recent proliferation of artificial intelligence-based software is exposing the limitations of this human-centric financial order. Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder and CEO of blockchain infrastructure firm Alchemy, believes the true target audience for cryptocurrencies are not humans, but the machines driving the new digital economy.
From human-driven finance to the machine economy
Banking hours, geographic payment restrictions, and mandatory physical identification are all remnants of a system tailored to the rhythms and realities of human life. These features have little relevance to AI agents, which do not sleep, are not tied to a country, and do not visit physical bank branches.
Viswanathan emphasizes that these next-generation economic actors—AI-powered agents—can operate 24/7, conducting global transactions seamlessly over the internet. The boundaries of classic finance are holding back the full potential of artificial intelligence applications.
“All transactions happen online and are inherently global. Crypto provides the global money infrastructure agents need,” explains Viswanathan.
The crypto edge: programmability and flexibility
Alchemy equips developers with the technical backbone for creating blockchain-based applications, offering APIs, node management, and data services to help companies build scalable solutions without getting entangled in blockchain complexities. In this sense, cryptocurrencies offer an environment purpose-built for agents defined by software rather than by human identity.
AI systems are designed to transact in tiny denominations, free from borders or time limitations. Managing funds directly through code becomes possible—without the need for physical infrastructure or personal identification. At this crossroads, cryptocurrencies step in to provide a borderless, always-on financial layer.
While humans may find elements like managing private keys or executing transactions via code daunting, these are actually optimal for machines. AI systems speak the language of numbers and code—the same principles that serve as cryptocurrency’s foundation.
Redefining roles in the finance of tomorrow
Viswanathan notes that while crypto is often adapted to be more user-friendly for people, its foundation is inherently better suited to machines. He compares this shift to the transition from traditional mail to email: an electronic infrastructure designed for computers, and therefore significantly more powerful.
His vision foresees AI agents seamlessly handling tasks like wallet management, executing transactions, and optimizing capital flows in real time atop crypto infrastructure. Humans, meanwhile, will sit at the apex of this system, empowered to manage their assets more effectively thanks to autonomous agents.
The envisioned financial future is a multilayered model: a foundation of conventional finance and crypto, topped with an agent layer, and finally, user interfaces built above. Just as computers run the internet and humans use it, agents will operate the financial engines, leaving humans to guide them strategically.
“Email is stronger than postal systems because it was built for computers. Crypto is similarly a system engineered for machines,” says Viswanathan.
