Franklin Templeton argues agentic AI autonomously paying for services is crypto's killer use case, requiring blockchain infrastructure.
AI & Agents ·
Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, contends that autonomous software agents capable of independently executing transactions will depend on blockchain infrastructure rather than traditional banking networks. The asset manager, which oversees roughly $1.8 trillion, argues that crypto networks provide what it calls a critical speed advantage and that owning tech stocks alone does not adequately expose investors to the AI revolution.
The reasoning hinges on transaction throughput. Legacy payment systems evolved for human-paced activity and cannot process the volume that would result if AI agents become widespread—forecasts suggest such agents could represent 15–25% of U.S. e-commerce by 2030. Blockchain networks settle transactions immediately within their native ledgers, whereas traditional credit networks like Visa record transactions but require 1–3 business days to settle. Newer blockchains achieve speeds comparable to Visa's capacity: Solana at 6,284 transactions per second and Aptos at 12,933, enabling the rapid micropayments that autonomous agents would generate.
What remains unclear is whether crypto's technical readiness will translate to mainstream adoption of agentic AI, or whether alternative payment solutions—including initiatives like the x402 Foundation and protocols backed by major tech firms—might achieve similar velocity without cryptocurrency intermediaries. Franklin Templeton's framing positions blockchain as necessary, but the competitive and regulatory landscape is still forming.