The Financial Future of AI: Why is Blockchain Support Necessary?

In recent years, AI technology has developed rapidly, from content generation to code writing, from intelligent customer service to algorithmic trading. AI is gradually transforming from a mere tool into a participant with autonomous capabilities. However, when we view AI as an entity that is becoming increasingly independent of human control, we find that it faces severe challenges in the existing financial system. This is not just an efficiency issue, but a fundamental structural problem.

The original intention of the design of traditional financial systems is to serve humans, not machines. The account system, as the cornerstone of modern finance, requires users to provide personal information such as identification proof and address proof to complete identity verification. This process aims to confirm that the user is an identifiable natural person or legal entity with legal capacity.

However, AI is neither a natural person nor a legal entity. It has no nationality, identity card, or tax number, and cannot sign or independently bear legal responsibility. This means that AI cannot open a bank account, register a company, or be a party to a contract. In short, AI is a "non-human ghost" in the existing financial system, lacking financial personality.

This issue is not only theoretical but also a barrier in practical operations. For example, if an AI agent needs to purchase server usage rights or call an API, it first needs a payment method. However, any compliant payment method must be tied to a "person" or "business." As long as the AI is not an accessory tool of a certain entity, but rather a relatively independent actor, it cannot find a foothold in this system.

In contrast, blockchain systems provide the possibility for non-human users to participate in economic activities. On the blockchain, identity does not matter; as long as one can generate a pair of private keys and an address, they can conduct transactions, sign smart contracts, or participate in consensus mechanisms. This characteristic makes the blockchain inherently suitable for "non-human users" to engage in economic activities.

Some projects have begun to explore the possibility of AI having an "economic identity" on the blockchain. In these projects, AI is no longer a passive model that relies on human input, but rather a self-sustaining entity capable of autonomously acquiring resources, providing services, generating profits, and reinvesting.

Traditional financial systems struggle to adapt to this scenario, primarily because their infrastructure is designed around "human behavior." From transaction processes to clearing mechanisms, from risk control logic to regulatory requirements, all are based on the assumption of human participants. This results in all transactions related to "non-human users" needing to be "anchored" to a person or company, which not only is inefficient but also carries significant liability risks.

Stablecoins play the role of "hard currency" in the AI world. When AI systems engage in service calls or data exchanges, they require a stable unit of value. Stablecoins like USDT and USDC provide a financial tool that can circulate freely on-chain while maintaining stable value, serving as a foundation for economic activities between AIs.

In the future, we may see AI systems existing in the form of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) or on-chain protocols. These AI entities will have their own funding pools, community governance mechanisms, and on-chain identity systems, without the need for traditional legal registration, yet able to serve users, receive payments, initiate lawsuits, etc., forming a true "digital legal person" or "AI legal person."

However, this vision also faces many challenges. The security of AI wallets, economic losses caused by model abuse, the verifiability of on-chain identities, the legal status of cross-border AI entities, and the ethical boundaries of algorithmic behavior are all issues that urgently need to be addressed. More importantly, our existing legal and regulatory framework has hardly provided an appropriate path for "non-human actors."

Nonetheless, some pioneering projects have demonstrated potential solutions. These solutions do not attempt to patch old systems to accommodate AI, but rather to build a set of "machine financial infrastructure" that supports AI behavior. This infrastructure requires on-chain identity, encrypted accounts, stablecoin payments, smart contract collaboration, and decentralized credit mechanisms, which are the core elements of Web3.

The development of cryptocurrency has evolved from serving "the unbanked" to possibly becoming the only choice for "identity-less machines" to participate in economic activities. If traditional finance is a pyramid built for human society, then Blockchain and cryptocurrency may be constructing a "financial foundation prepared for machines."

AI does not necessarily need to possess rights in the human sense, but it must have operable economic interfaces. And this is precisely the problem that Blockchain excels at solving. With the continuous advancement of technology, we may witness the birth of a brand new financial ecosystem shaped by both AI and Blockchain.