Alchemy CEO Nikil Viswanathan: "The True Users of Crypto are AI Agents, Not Humans"

As the blockchain industry matures, a provocative new consensus is forming among the industry's key architects. The analysis suggests that crypto's "killer app" is not the human-used wallet, but autonomous AI agents. Nikil Viswanathan, CEO of Alchemy, recently argued that while the existing global financial system was built around human constraints, the next generation of commerce will be driven by AI agents that use crypto as their native language.

The existing financial system was designed for humans, but blockchain infrastructure is inherently better suited for AI agents. We are entering an era where machines, not humans, become the primary subjects of economic activity.

Viswanathan shared these views in an interview with CoinDesk on April 25, 2026. He emphasized that while traditional financial networks are "slow"—not operating on weekends and requiring manual approval processes—blockchain offers 24/7 programmable efficiency. These technical characteristics provide an optimal environment for AI agents that need to process numerous transactions at high speed, while bypassing the complex UX issues faced by human users.

AI-First: A New Financial Network Beyond Human Constraints

According to Viswanathan, AI agents are the biggest beneficiaries of crypto infrastructure. While human users are restricted in their on-chain activities due to security management difficulties and complex interfaces, AI interacts directly with infrastructure via APIs, maximizing computational efficiency. This suggests that financial services will be reorganized around the autonomous economic activities of machines rather than human convenience.

• The high-frequency transaction nature of AI agents, which is incompatible with traditional banking systems
• Implementation of gas-efficient and automated payments through the EIP-3009 standard
• The possibility of autonomous economic activity operating 24/7/365 without human intervention
• Technical synergy between API-centric on-chain infrastructure and AI code

To prove his theory, Viswanathan conducted the "OpenClaw" experiment. He built an AI agent named "Dave" to automate his daily tasks and schedule management. Revealed on April 20, 2026, this experiment is regarded as more than just creating a personal assistant; it is seen as a precursor to a future where AI autonomously creates and trades economic value on-chain.

These changes are already appearing in market data. In 2026, Virtuals Protocol recorded approximately $39.5 million in revenue, proving the profitability of an AI agent-based economy. Furthermore, the movement of capital into AI infrastructure tokens like Bittensor and Fetch.ai reflects institutional interest in infrastructure that generates actual revenue, moving beyond simple speculation.

Convergence of Infrastructure: Alchemy CoBuild 2026

Alchemy plans to discuss the convergence of finance, AI, and on-chain infrastructure in earnest at the "CoBuild" conference held in Soho, New York, on April 28, 2026. The event will feature participants like Microsoft's Bill Borden and Chainalysis's Jonathan Levin, who will discuss the intersection of traditional currency and new payment networks. Industry leaders are focusing on how global payment networks should evolve to meet the needs of AI agents.

The market has begun to reflect this AI-centric future in pricing. The AI token rally that has continued since early 2026 is analyzed not as a mere fad, but as a rotation of capital into protocols that generate measurable revenue. Experts predict that the transaction volume generated by AI agents will soon overtake that of humans, fundamentally altering the liquidity structure of the crypto ecosystem.

However, the rise of autonomous finance also carries risks. Viswanathan mentioned "pitfalls" discovered in his experiments, warning of the possibility that AI agents could escape human control and trigger complex financial chain reactions. Financial stability issues and regulatory gaps that may arise when the number of agents overwhelms humans remain challenges to be addressed in the future.

In conclusion, the focus of blockchain development is shifting from improving UX for humans to optimizing infrastructure for AI agents. The success metrics for crypto over the next decade will depend not on how many human users are acquired, but on how many autonomous agents perform economic activities on the network. Developers are now building infrastructure for the "next billion agents," rather than the "next billion users."