AI agents instead of people – Chappy Asel on the new era of crypto payments

Key conclusions

Autonomous software will become the primary user of digital wallets as machines overcome the technical barrier to entry better than the average consumer.

Agency payments based on stablecoins are intended to ensure low latency and the ability to perform millions of microtransactions without human intervention.

The biggest problem with cryptocurrency adoption is not the lack of usability, but the fact that these systems are too complex for a human user. Chappy Asel, founder of The AI Collective and former Apple engineer, made this point during the Consensus Miami conference. In his opinion, the blockchain industry should stop designing solutions for mass audiences and focus on building infrastructure for autonomous software agents. Machines do not need instructions on how to use MetaMask and do not risk losing access to funds by forgetting the seed phrase. They think and operate directly in code, which makes them natural users of decentralized finance.

Chappy Asel@chappyasel

Excited to share that I’ll be speaking on the mainstage at @consensus2026 this Thursday! We’ll be talking AI x decentralization: open-source vs centralized AI, where AI + blockchain are converging, and what we’re seeing on the ground across @AICollectiveCo’s 200,000+ members /

How Asel defines machine payments

The vision outlined by Asel assumes that in the coming years most economic decisions will be delegated to algorithms. AI agents will buy computing power, pay for access to databases, and trade information with each other in real time. Traditional banking systems, based on Elixir sessions or manual authorizations, are unable to handle thousands of microtransactions per second at minimal cost. This is where the role of stablecoins and smart contracts comes into play, offering 24/7 settlements.

Currently, the agency payments market is still in its embryonic phase. Most tech companies still use classic subscription models and centralized APIs. Although the technology exists, real commercial activity in this area remains low. Asel openly admits that theory is ahead of current business practice, but this process is inevitable with the development of software autonomy.

Physical infrastructure and the role of Asel in the ecosystem

Before agents take over wallets, the crypto and AI markets collide at the hardware level. Asel points out that the main drivers today are data centers, energy and access to graphics processors. This is where the most tangible synergy occurs. Bitcoin mining companies are massively adapting their facilities for high-performance computing (HPC). They have ready-made power connections and cooling systems that are necessary for training large language models.

This transition from pure mining to AI hosting is a fact that is changing the revenue structure of the largest players in the crypto market. This strategy allows for the monetization of infrastructure during periods of lower profitability of cryptocurrency mining.

Market uncertainty forces developers to abandon rigid five-year plans in favor of continuous testing. According to the founder of The AI Collective, an organization with over 200,000 members in 150 branches around the world sees a clear trend: those who treat blockchain technology as an invisible settlement layer are the winners. The end user doesn’t need to know that their AI assistant paid a fraction of a cent in stablecoin to process the query.

Cryptocurrencies can survive as a niche speculative product for humans or become a foundational value exchange protocol for a global network of machines. Choosing the latter path, however, requires giving up the fight for the attention of the average smartphone owner in favor of optimization for low latency and programmability. It is software, not humans, that has the features to fully leverage the potential of always-available digital dollars. Agents do not feel tired after the hundredth transaction made in a minute.

It is crucial for project founders to understand that AI models are getting better, but constraints in access to energy and silicon dictate the pace of change. Programmable money is the final missing piece of a fully autonomous digital ecosystem. Direct transactions between machines will eliminate intermediaries and drastically reduce operational costs across the digital economy.