As artificial intelligence races ahead, some crypto executives believe it could become the force that finally pushes blockchain infrastructure into widespread use. Others aren’t convinced the leap is so straightforward.
As artificial intelligence races ahead, some crypto executives believe it could become the force that finally pushes blockchain infrastructure into widespread use. Others aren’t convinced the leap is so straightforward.
In a recent panel discussion at NEARCON 2026, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley described AI as “an unstoppable freight train,” arguing that its pace of development is unlike anything crypto has experienced. Diogo Monica, general partner at Haun Ventures and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, pushed back on the assumption that agentic commerce automatically requires new rails. SAN FRANCISCO, CA - In a recent panel discussion at NEARCON 2026, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley described AI as “an unstoppable freight train,” arguing that its pace of development is unlike anything crypto has experienced. “AI is accomplishing a quarter’s worth of roadmap every two weeks right now,” he said, suggesting that projections based on previous crypto adoption cycles may already be outdated. “You have to dump the last six years of data and cut it fresh from the last six months.” For Horsley, the implication is that public blockchains could benefit disproportionately from AI’s rise. “If there’s one space that will be an unmitigated benefactor of the adoption proliferation of AI, it will be public blockchains and crypto assets,” he said. As autonomous agents begin to act on behalf of users, he suggested, crypto-native tools may offer practical advantages. “Agents, obviously, you're not going to want to authorize OpenClaw with your credit card… You're gonna want to fund them with stablecoins. They're gonna want to transact confidentially,” Horsley said, pointing to stablecoins and onchain infrastructure as potential guardrails for machine-driven activity. Diogo Monica, general partner at Haun Ventures and co-founder of Anchorage Digital, pushed back on the assumption that agentic commerce automatically requires new rails. “There is a chance that the agent payments commerce looks exactly like the current payment commerce for the foreseeable future,” Monica said. “You are telling me that a superhuman intelligence cannot use the current payment rails, the current credit cards, the current instant settlement, to pay for things and to figure it out on their own.” “You can’t tell me that AGI is coming and agents are going to be super smart… and tell me that they’re not going to be smart enough to figure out different systems,” he added. Still, Monica acknowledged a deeper alignment between the technologies. “AI creates digital abundance and crypto versus digital scarcity. These are actually complementary technologies,” he said, adding that crypto’s privacy and verification tools could help mitigate some of the risks AI introduces. Whether blockchains become the default rails for autonomous commerce remains unresolved. But as AI accelerates, the debate over crypto’s role in that future is clearly intensifying. The project's creator nearly deleted the viral AI agent after crypto scammers hijacked his accounts, launched a fake token that hit $16 million, and harassed him for weeks.OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger has imposed a blanket ban on any mention of crypto, including bitcoin, in the project's Discord after past turmoil tied to token speculation. The ban follows a January incident in which scammers hijacked OpenClaw's old accounts during a rebrand and promoted a fake $CLAWD token that briefly hit a $16 million market cap before collapsing. Security researchers later found hundreds of unsecured OpenClaw instances and hundreds of malicious skills, many targeting crypto traders, underscoring how speculative token culture nearly derailed the fast-growing open-source AI project.7 hours ago
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Circle Internet, crypto miners report earnings: Crypto Week AheadYour look at what's coming in the week starting Feb. 23
Read more »
Every Central Bank to Own Bitcoin by 2050: Bitwise Invest CIOCIO of Bitwise Invest responds to the Sevens Reporter founder on his Bitcoin criticism.
Read more »
Crypto.com wins OCC approval for federally regulated crypto custodian bankThe national charter would consolidate custody services under a single framework under federal oversight.
Read more »
Senate-passed bill to tighten crypto kiosk rules heads to House hearing TuesdayJane said she lost $17,000 to scammers last year after they frightened her into believing she would be arrested if she did not pay.
Read more »
Crypto Funds Bleed Again: 5 Weeks of Outflows Show Deepening Investor FatigueXRP, Solana, and Chainlink recorded small inflows, but these were insufficient to offset broader, persistent altcoin outflows.
Read more »
Morning Crypto Report: Mr. XRP Yoshitaka Kitao Predicts 2026 On-Chain Revolution, Bitcoin in 'Not Digital Gold' Period: CryptoQuant CEO, Ethereum Foundation to Stake 70,000 ETHFebruary 24 in crypto: SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao forecasts 2026 TradFi-DeFi fusion, Ethereum Foundation stakes 70,000 ETH amid Buterin's $21 million sell-off and CryptoQuant CEO redefines BTC's role.
Read more »