Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has published a new paper arguing that artificial intelligence and blockchain are converging into what he calls the “agentic economy.” According to Allaire, AI agents will eventually transact, exchange value, coordinate work, and execute contracts on blockchain networks without constant human involvement.
The paper describes AI as a new computing model that relies on natural language instructions instead of traditional programming. Rather than executing fixed code, AI agents receive tasks, reason through them, and complete work independently. Allaire believes blockchain provides the financial infrastructure these agents need, allowing them to hold digital assets, make payments, and settle agreements on-chain.
Today I’m sharing something I’ve been building toward for years: The Agentic Economy, a treatise on the convergence of intelligence and the economy.
As AI agents take on the work of the firm and value moves natively on open, programmable networks, the agentic economy and the…
— Jeremy Allaire – jerallaire.arc (@jerallaire) July 12, 2026
AI needs a financial network
Allaire argues that today’s AI models can already write code, analyze information, and automate business processes. The next step, he says, is giving those systems the ability to participate in economic activity.
That requires an infrastructure where software can transfer value as easily as it exchanges information. Public blockchains, programmable money, and smart contracts provide those capabilities. Circle has long promoted stablecoins as internet-native money, and Allaire’s latest paper extends that idea by placing AI agents among the future users of digital dollars.
What happens when AI can buy and sell?
Allaire’s paper points to a question that reaches beyond payments or automation, which is what happens when AI agents begin acting as independent economic participants instead of software tools? An agent that can negotiate contracts, manage funds, purchase computing resources, and receive payments starts to resemble a business operating on its own rather than an assistant carrying out instructions.
Coinbase has already introduced tools for AI wallets, while developers building on Ethereum and Base are testing ways for AI agents to own wallets, pay for services, and interact with decentralized applications. Instead of treating those efforts as isolated experiments, Allaire frames them as pieces of the same economic model.
If AI agents eventually earn, spend, and enter agreements without constant human approval, financial infrastructure may need to serve software entities alongside people and companies. That would make digital identity, programmable money, and onchain settlement less about cryptocurrency itself and more about giving autonomous software a practical way to participate in economic activity.
Allaire defended USDC’s long-term position, arguing that stablecoin success is built over years through liquidity, regulatory approvals, and everyday use rather than lower fees or short-term incentives.
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