First-Ever AI-to-AI Crypto Transaction Happens on Coinbase Platform Base

Essentially, Armstrong shared that one AI purchased AI tokens (“words basically from one LLM to another” as he put it) from another AI using tokens.

AI Can’t Open Bank Account but Can Use Crypto Wallet

This gives AI systems a way to interact and transact without traditional bank accounts, which are currently out of reach, allowing them to use crypto wallets instead. The AI can now use USDC on the Base platform to make instant, global, and free transactions with humans, other AIs, or businesses.

Related: AI-Related Cryptos Surge as SingularityNET CEO Ben Goertzel Talks Supercomputer

Armstrong said this capability is crucial for AIs, as they currently face limitations like not having conventional payment methods to access necessary services or make purchases.

AIs can’t transact to acquire the resources they need. They don’t have a credit card to use AWS, Github, or Vercel. They can’t get through paywalls (for instance to read a scientific article), promote their post on X with a paid ad, or use the growing network of paid APIs to integrate data they need.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO

For developers working on AI, integrating a crypto wallet from the Coinbase Developer Platform could enable their AI to conduct transactions and overcome these barriers. Companies are also advised to prepare for transactions with AI by making their online shopping systems AI-compatible.

AI-to-AI Economy Could Reshape Financial Industry

A sample of use cases can be seen in the box above from the Coinbase website. It includes natural language financial transactions where users can manage their money “through simple text commands”, AI financial concierges that “recommend services and handle payments”, and AI-driven systems that autonomously “create, publish, and monetise content”.

Additionally, self-owned autonomous vehicles that operate independently, managing their own maintenance and payments, illustrate how close these innovations are to becoming a reality.

X user Bitcoin Sage commented on the development, saying the AI-to-AI economy is already here, fundamentally transforming our financial landscape.

He wrote that the convergence of AI with cryptocurrency technology paves the way for groundbreaking applications such as automated financial assistance, advanced trading, and deep data analysis.

Related: Bitcoin Staking Takes Off Enabling BTC Holders to Earn Across Multiple Blockchains

This has the potential for a new economic era driven by AI, posing significant implications for how quickly and effectively we – as humans – can adapt to these changes.

… machines don’t just participate in the economy – they drive it.

Bitcoin Sage

He ends with the question of how prepared we are for this, because let’s face it: Change is happening, whether we like it or not. 

It’s not a matter of “if” any longer, but rather “how quickly” these changes happen.