Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and innovation at Franklin Templeton, published an essay of over 1,800 words on X on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, identifying autonomous AI agents as the next major use case for blockchain technology. Kaul dissected the weaknesses of legacy infrastructure, arguing that conventional card networks are ill-suited for agentic payments due to high operational fees and settlement delays of 1 to 3 business days.
This sluggish pace contrasts sharply with the speed required for machine-to-machine data exchange. As a result, Kaul considers ecosystems like Aptos, Solana, and BNB Chain far more ideal to take over these payment rails, given their capacity to settle granular transactions in seconds.
Why Conventional Systems Are Seen as Lagging Behind
The shortcomings of legacy systems have been openly acknowledged by their own issuers. A joint report by Visa and analytics firm Artemis published last Wednesday revealed that traditional card networks were designed for low-frequency human transactions. Such underlying architecture is incapable of supporting the traffic volume of AI agents, which strictly require near-zero-cost infrastructure to operate.
Card providers are certainly attempting to bridge this speed gap. Visa’s crypto division and Tempo, a payment platform backed by Stripe, rolled out dedicated AI tools this past March. Visa’s breakthrough enables AI agents to execute same-day payments. However, daily settlement constraints remain a hurdle for autonomous software accustomed to executing thousands of network instructions per second.
Investment Shift Toward Networks
On the other hand, the crypto space has already recorded concrete machine adoption. This is evident from the activity on Coinbase’s x402 protocol, which clocked an adjusted payment volume of $15 million densely distributed across more than 109 million transactions. Recorded since its launch in May 2025, these figures demonstrate that decentralized ledgers can facilitate small-scale fund transfers with virtually no friction.
These early milestones align with Kaul’s projections regarding the explosive economic value of AI agents. She believes the growing population of autonomous devices will drive massive market demand for blockchains specifically tailored to facilitate machine-to-machine micropayments. This trend is forcing capital allocators to reconsider whether traditional investment playbooks based on holding equity in AI corporations remain viable.
Capital flows around autonomous agents are gradually shifting toward much smoother decentralized channels. If the trend of financial autonomy for artificial intelligence continues, entities providing blockchain payment infrastructure stand at the forefront of capturing value, rather than the companies building the machines themselves.
Reported by Cointelegraph.
Read also: What Is DeFi (Decentralized Finance)?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
