Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that AI agents will eventually have daily trading volumes exceeding the total of all humanity. They cannot open bank accounts, wait in lines, or be fixed to one country, thus requiring real-time programmable money, which is crypto rails.

He opposes the notion that "those in crypto should turn to AI": the two are "and" not "or". Intelligence provides labor, while crypto provides currency and markets, collectively referred to as agent finance or AiFi. Agents will hold coins, make payments, trade, act as advisors, fund projects, or lend, and take over taxes and bills. The company uses Base, the USDC stablecoin, and the x402 protocol to handle machine payments, claiming it has covered the vast majority of agent payments; agent-related transactions on Base exceeded 100 million in a single month.

Regarding meme coins, he previously likened them to canaries in coal mines, stating that new things often appear as toys first; Coinbase will continue to list and remove fraudulent ones, allowing users to judge quality. He supports trading freedom but warns against treating his social media accounts as trading signals. When regulations are unclear, legitimate funding paths narrow, making it easier for funds and attention to flow toward memes; he bets that clear legislation can shift issuance from hype to compliant cultural and community assets.

He discussed the Senate's advancement of the CLARITY Act on CNBC, stating that both parties have achieved about 90% of their demands and are optimistic about passing with 60 votes. Bitcoin spot accounts for about 12% of the company's revenue, with growth in derivatives, prediction markets, stablecoin payments, and real-world assets. The company also positions itself as a financial account for the AI era: providing agent wallets, in-app advisors, and connecting to large models.

Buyers are agents requiring 24-hour automatic settlement and licensed exchanges, while sellers still rely on human-designed card networks. Funds are shifting from stablecoin circulation to layer-two fees and token listings. Beneficiaries are platforms with existing compliance stacks; those under pressure are machines that cannot open accounts and application teams without issuance paths. This is a roadmap statement, not a bill that has passed.

Source: Public Information