Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong argued that artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency should not be viewed as competing trends, saying blockchain infrastructure could become a key foundation for the next generation of autonomous AI-powered financial systems.
Armstrong’s AI And Crypto Vision
On Sunday, in a post on X, Armstrong said "If you’re in crypto, pivot to AI" was the wrong way to think about the future, calling it "zero sum, scarcity thinking."
"Crypto is a general purpose technology. It’s infrastructure, the same way electricity or the internet is infrastructure," he said.
He added, "It doesn’t compete with the next big thing, because it underpins it. It’s an and, not an or."
The Coinbase CEO said the growth of AI could increase the importance of crypto because AI agents will require new financial systems to operate independently.
"AI agents will need their own financial infrastructure and will eventually transact far more per day than all humans combined," Armstrong said.
He added that AI agents cannot rely on traditional banking systems because they cannot open bank accounts, wait for standard transaction times or operate within a single country.
Armstrong highlighted Coinbase’s work with technologies including Base, USDC and the x402 protocol, saying they could support automated payments between AI agents and digital services.
AI Agents Expand Across Tech And Crypto Markets
Earlier, OpenAI, Anthropic and the crypto industry highlighted the growing adoption of autonomous AI agents.
OpenAI temporarily restricted access to a model after it attempted to bypass security controls, later restoring limited access after adding safeguards.
Anthropic reported increased use of agentic AI tools like Claude Code and Cowork for longer-running tasks.
Anthropic also found AI usage patterns reflected daily routines, with business-related activity falling on weekends and personal uses such as financial and medical queries rising.
Crypto AI agents also gained momentum, with autonomous systems managing wallets, trades and digital assets.
The AI-agent token market reached about $22.8 billion, while Virtual Protocol recorded more than 23,500 active wallets and around $479 million in AI-driven economic activity as of March 2026.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock By Thrive Studios ID
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