A major step in the fission of AI + blockchain

On August 30, Coinbase CEO officially announced a very significant attempt:

They successfully conducted the first truly AI-to-AI cryptocurrency transaction.

This experiment was carried out on the Base Sepolia Network, a testnet of Base. Coinbase created an AI agent wallet based on MPC technology. After creating the wallet and funding it with faucet tokens, the AI agent used this wallet to transfer the faucet tokens to another cryptocurrency wallet.

This seemingly simple transaction is, in my view, quite significant, both for the crypto ecosystem and for artificial intelligence, as it showcases a future that is imaginative and even difficult to conceive.

Before exploring the implications of this transaction, let’s first look at another important concept: AI agents.

In recent years, AI agents have become another very popular emerging phenomenon alongside AI.

What is an AI agent?

Currently, there is no unified definition in the industry, but we can basically understand it as an intelligent entity that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and execute actions.

In simple terms, if a human gives an AI agent a command that includes a series of complex actions, as long as the external conditions are met, it can complete the command and provide the optimal result without human intervention.

For example, suppose there is a purchasing AI agent. I give it a voice command: "Help me buy a product within the price range of XX that has the characteristics of XX; I need to receive it in three days."

At this point, the agent will search all offline stores, contacting store representatives via voice tools to inquire about product information; it will also go online to search all e-commerce platforms and find all suitable products. Then it will identify the most appropriate product from all offline and online options, fill in my delivery address, and place the order. Three days later, I receive the product I need at my doorstep.

During this process, I don’t need to worry about what the agent needs to do; it can handle everything on its own.

AI agents are also different from the robots we often hear about. The robots we commonly refer to require all actions to be pre-programmed with logic and scripts, which they then execute accordingly. However, AI agents only need to understand our intentions to find the best path to complete tasks on their own.

Having understood AI agents, let’s look at the transaction designed by Coinbase.

In this transaction, the agent appears to have simply completed a transfer, but in fact, the logic of this transfer can be infinitely expanded:

If the agent transfers to a 1CO contract, then this transaction is equivalent to participating in 1CO.

If the agent transfers to a Uniswap contract, then this transaction is equivalent to a token swap.

…

Moreover, in this transaction, Coinbase pre-created the wallet using MPC technology and funded it with faucet tokens.

In fact, these two actions could also be performed by the agent:

As long as the agent can access the internet, it theoretically can call relevant apps to create an MPC wallet.

As long as the agent can pass "human tests," it can obtain test coins from the faucet.

These two points are achievable by current agents. In my impression, there are reports that a certain large internet company has already developed a similar agent that can automatically access the internet and call apps, which is currently in internal testing.

What I find most noteworthy in this transaction is that the agent completed actions using cryptocurrency.

In my view, cryptocurrency is inherently the best payment tool for artificial intelligence.

Why?

Because obtaining crypto assets and applying for crypto wallets are actions that require no permission and can be done entirely online.

It’s hard to imagine an AI agent applying for a bank account on its own; how would it submit a personal address? Submit a personal phone number? Submit identification? And would it need a real person to go to the counter and verify all this information one-on-one with a teller?

Moreover, even if the agent could do these things, compared to permissionless crypto assets, I believe AI agents would prefer crypto assets in terms of efficiency and convenience.

Therefore, the success of this experiment, in my view, represents a very important and valuable application of AI + blockchain.

We can easily envision a scenario like this:

The AI agent applies for a crypto wallet without permission, and as soon as it has its first initial capital, it can earn more capital according to its own logic (for example, by participating in Ethereum staking, engaging in speculative trading on Uniswap, participating in lending services, etc.). Once it has more capital, it can engage in more online activities, even develop its own online applications, and grow its own economic ecosystem.

At that time, the AI agent could live in a closed loop within a purely online space, and all of this would be based on crypto assets.

This transaction is a small step for AI transactions, but a significant leap for the emergence of AI + blockchain.

Reference link:

++https://beincrypto.com/coinbase-ai-agents-crypto-transactions/++