Why is crypto the key infrastructure for the large-scale implementation of AI agents?

Written by: Blockchain Knight

For AI Agents to truly become “widely deployable autonomous software,” they need two core capabilities: composability + verifiability.

And these two things are exactly what traditional Web2 cannot provide, but what cryptocurrency systems are inherently equipped with.

1. AI Needs Composability, and Composability Must Be Built on Verifiability

The future of AI Agents is not a single model, but rather: automatically invoking other services; combining with other Agents; automatically writing code; automatically testing; automatically executing decisions (including those involving funds)—this is called agent composability.

Here comes the problem: If one Agent invokes another Agent, but you can’t verify that the other side actually executed as expected, the entire automation ecosystem can’t close the loop.

Web2 infrastructure (API + SaaS) cannot provide this kind of strong verifiability because: APIs are black boxes; data can be tampered with; execution results can’t be proven; permissions rely on centralized audits; money can’t be settled automatically.

In other words: a Web2 Agent cannot fully trust another Web2 Agent. So automation stops at the “demo level.”

2. Cryptocurrency Provides the “Verifiable Foundation Layer” That AI Lacks

Crypto provides three core capabilities at the foundational level that the AI ecosystem of the future needs:

① Verifiable Execution

Smart contracts are transparent and provable. ZK proofs allow complex off-chain executions to be verified. AI can confirm that “the other party really did as I instructed.”

② Verifiable Identity

Decentralized identity (DID/Key), and the Agent code itself can be signed.

This solves: who did it, is it trustworthy, and has it been tampered with.

③ Verifiable Value Transfer

Smart contracts support: automatic deduction, automatic payments, profit sharing for multi-party collaboration, staking and penalties, margin mechanisms.

This allows AI to manage and schedule funds directly without relying on institutions. This is something Web2 cannot do.

3. AI Programming Needs “Self-Testing,” and Involving Funds Needs “Automatic Verifiability”

Anthropic’s recent acquisition of Bun is a signal:

AI is about to upgrade from “automatically writing code” to a complete loop of “auto-writing → auto-testing → auto-running → auto-repair.”

Once AI runs code automatically, and that code directly affects the real world, such as: executing trades, managing budgets, paying API fees, participating in economic activities, it must have the verifiable fund security system that cryptocurrency provides.

Otherwise, AI is just a toy and can’t participate in the real economy.

Crypto enables AI to:

Automatically fine for “execution errors”;

Automatically reward for “good contributions”;

Automatically settle when multiple Agents collaborate;

Settle automatically without human trust.

This is essential for the future AI Agent economy.

4. In Summary

AI enables software autonomy; Crypto makes autonomy trustworthy. Without the verifiability of cryptocurrency, AI Agents cannot operate at scale in the real economy.