A senior executive at Franklin Templeton Digital Assets has described agentic artificial intelligence as blockchain’s most compelling real world application, arguing that Ethereum is well positioned to benefit as AI driven commerce expands.
The comments came from Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at the $2 trillion asset management firm, in a detailed post on X discussing how crypto could power payments between autonomous AI agents. Reacting to the post, former BlackRock vice president and Milk Road Daily host John Gillen remarked that the executive had essentially given investors a reason to buy ETH.
Why Ethereum Could Benefit From Agentic AI
While many investors have gained exposure to artificial intelligence through AI focused companies, Kaul suggested that the same strategy may not fully capture the opportunities presented by agentic AI.
Unlike traditional AI tools, autonomous AI agents are expected to independently initiate, monitor, and complete transactions. Industry projections estimate that agentic commerce could grow into a market worth between $3 trillion and $5 trillion by 2030.
Traditional financial systems are poorly suited for this model because high fees and slower settlement times make micropayments impractical. In addition, AI agents cannot easily open bank accounts or comply with the strict identity verification requirements imposed by conventional financial institutions.
Kaul believes decentralized blockchain networks provide a more suitable infrastructure, with Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystems standing out due to their extensive developer community and growing institutional adoption.
He argued that investors seeking exposure to decentralized digital economies will increasingly need to own the native cryptocurrencies powering those networks.
According to Kaul, these digital assets could become core portfolio holdings for investors looking to benefit from the rise of agentic AI.
The International Monetary Fund echoed a similar view in an April report, stating that agentic AI is expected to reshape payment systems. The report noted that payment providers, Ethereum based platforms, and AI developers are already competing to build the standards and infrastructure required for this emerging technology.
Crypto analyst Leo Lanza also highlighted Ethereum’s potential role in the AI sector, arguing that while many investors see ETH primarily as a tokenization play, AI agents will require blockchain based financial infrastructure to hold assets, settle payments, and transact with one another.
Ethereum Moves Closer to $2,000
Ethereum climbed to a seven week high of $1,945 on Tuesday and held on to most of those gains during early Wednesday trading.
At the time of writing, ETH was trading around $1,930, marking a 27% recovery from its June 26 cycle low and bringing it within reach of the psychologically important $2,000 level.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
