AI could supercharge crypto but there’s a catch, Fidelity Digital Assets says
Fidelity Digital Assets warns that while AI could increase blockchain transaction volume, it may not necessarily create value for crypto investors. The report suggests that competitive advantages in the AI-crypto space will likely shift toward liquidity, security, and trust rather than just technological innovation.
Why it matters
This analysis provides a critical perspective on the hype surrounding the convergence of AI and blockchain, highlighting the difference between activity and economic value.
AI is rapidly emerging as a major crypto investment narrative, built around the idea that autonomous agents could potentially drive transactions and demand for programmable financial infrastructure.
The infrastructure race is already underway. AI agents settled more than $73 million across roughly 176 million blockchain transactions in the year through April, according to a Keyrock report , while Coinbase, Stripe and Visa are developing competing systems for machine-to-machine payments.
Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto arm of financial-services giant Fidelity Investments, however, sees a key risk.
More AI-driven activity may not translate into more value for crypto investors. The question is less about how much activity AI generates and more about who captures the economic value.
“As AI lowers barriers to development and participation, competitive advantages may increasingly reside in liquidity, distribution, security, trust, and regulatory integration rather than technology alone,” analyst Max Wadington wrote in the Wednesday report.
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