The growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) could become one of the key drivers of demand for public blockchain networks, particularly in financial transactions, verifiable data storage, and the development of decentralized AI networks.
The research division of Grayscale published a report that identified three primary ways AI services are expected to accelerate blockchain adoption.
According to Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale and the report’s author, demand will be concentrated in three key AI use cases:
- Programmable financial infrastructure. AI agents will need programmable crypto wallets that can hold and use funds independently, without intermediaries, to execute financial transactions autonomously. Grayscale believes this will drive demand for micropayments, instant cross border settlements, automated trading, and risk management systems. The firm sees public blockchain networks, including Ethereum and Solana, as the core infrastructure for these activities.
- Verifiable records for computation, digital identity, and reputation. As businesses delegate more processes to AI services, the need to verify the origin of AI generated decisions will increase. At the same time, organizations will require a reliable digital identity framework that can distinguish humans from AI agents without revealing users’ identities, while also maintaining reputation records for autonomous agents before they conduct financial or other high risk transactions. Pandl argues that public blockchain networks and services built on them, including World, can provide this functionality.
- Decentralized AI ecosystems. Pandl noted that AI development is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies that control computing resources, capital, and governance. He pointed to decentralized networks such as Bittensor as an alternative. These platforms allow anyone to contribute to AI development, access shared infrastructure, and own a stake in the ecosystem, reducing reliance on centralized developers.
According to the report, the expansion of AI won’t reduce the importance of public blockchain networks. Instead, it will create new sources of demand. Pandl believes that as AI systems become more autonomous, traditional digital infrastructure will become less capable of meeting new requirements. Public blockchain networks, by contrast, can address these needs through their open architecture, transparency, and the absence of a central governing authority.
Earlier, analysts at Visa and Artemis found that traditional card networks aren’t well suited for micropayments between AI agents. Meanwhile, Coinbase analysts argued that cryptocurrency infrastructure, particularly stablecoins, is becoming the foundation of digital payments in the emerging agent economy.
