- According to Brian Armstrong, AI will enhance crypto adoption by generating demand for programmable digital payments.
- Through Base, x402, and USDC, Coinbase is still developing its AI-powered payment system.
AI will help to foster cryptocurrency adoption by generating demand for programmable digital payments, according to Brian Armstrong. In his X post dated July 26, he contended that AI will make blockchain technology the backbone of finance for autonomous systems. AI agents will buy data, computing power, and digital services without any human intervention.
"If you're in crypto, pivot to AI."
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) July 26, 2026
I used to hear versions of this, and it's the wrong way to think about the world. It's zero sum, scarcity thinking.
Crypto is a general purpose technology. It's infrastructure, the same way electricity or the internet is infrastructure. It…
Armstrong said that artificial intelligence gives rise to programmable intelligence and that cryptocurrency is programmable money. These will complement each other to help bring about the digital economy. In addition, Armstrong also forecasted that autonomous agents of AI would at some point handle more daily financial transactions than all humans put together, making blockchain payment infrastructure crucial for the future economy.
Coinbase Building Machine Payment Infrastructure
Throughout 2026, Coinbase has been working on infrastructure that will facilitate payments made by machines. One of its initiatives involves the x402 protocol that allows for automated payment requests between software applications. The protocol uses HTTP status code 402, which developers reserved for payment functionality but rarely implemented across the modern internet.
Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain developed by Coinbase and designed to increase transaction speed and reduce costs, is also being expanded. The Layer 2 technology enables efficient transactions for users and applications without compromising the security of the Ethereum blockchain. In combination with x402, Base is the backbone that enables payments to be automated between artificial intelligence technologies. The choice was made to use USDC, created by Circle, as the preferred settlement currency for the ecosystem. By 2026, Armstrong said that most machine-executed payments would be enabled by Base, USDC, and x402.
Stablecoins to Drive Agentic Economy
Throughout 2026, Armstrong has been a vocal supporter of the connection between AI and cryptocurrency on various occasions and through his podcasts, highlighting how both complement each other. He claims that agents of artificial intelligence cannot comply with the banking requirements for human beings, such as authentication and the normal banking process for creating an account.
In their place, stablecoins offer programmable settlement, which is easily accessible to software without any restrictions imposed by banks. According to Armstrong, this makes stablecoins vital components of the agentic economy rather than merely payment methods. The continued adoption of AI technology would lead to a point where payments made by machines could surpass those made by people using cryptocurrencies.
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