Coinbase Unveils On-Chain AI Agents On Ethereum L2 Base

Coinbase announced a new set of fully on-chain AI agents users can create in under three minutes on its Ethereum L2 network Base.

Built with tools from Coinbase, OpenAI, and Replit, these agents can manage crypto wallets, connect with X (formerly Twitter), and perform other tasks.

This marks a significant step toward the convergence of AI and blockchain technology.

Coinbase’s Vision: A Future Where AI Agents Drive DeFi

Recently, Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong showed a far-reaching vision for the new era of AI and blockchain integration. In this world, AI agents have the financial independence to spend and transact through cryptocurrency wallets.

For Armstrong, this is how DeFi becomes a game-changing place. Digital economies are reshaped through AI-driven systems autonomously without human interference.

Create an AI agent with a crypto wallet (and optional X account) in less than 3 minutes

Based Agent! https://t.co/QznYkoZTC0

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 26, 2024

One major limitation that really holds back AI systems from widely usage today, is financial autonomy. Opening bank accounts or keeping credit cards for AI agents is not possible. They are not able to handle resources or purchase things on their own.

That really hinders their use of important services, like cloud computing in AWS, paid APIs, and subscription-based digital tools. The lack of independent transaction capabilities greatly restricts AI system’s real-world applications.

Cryptocurrency wallets for AI agents remove various barriers that would otherwise be in place. The crypto wallet allows AI agents to interact with open marketplaces, transacting with stablecoins on Base and Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain.

Financial independence means that they can pay bills, subscribe to things, or buy digital assets. This capability is a breakthrough that will grant AIs the ability to act as autonomous economic entities across industries.

Because of that, Armstrong recently offered the AI agent a new crypto wallet. He acknowledged that Truth Terminal already had a crypto wallet but insinuated that its human creator controls it.

AI Agents to Drive Crypto Innovation

The integration of crypto wallets with AI agents represents one of those points of inflection in integrating AI with blockchain. This is where the dream of an AI-to-AI economy is being trailed by platforms such as Coinbase. There, even financial transactions and asset management-participation in decentralized governance, is done autonomously between AI agents, independently of human intervention.

For crypto investors, this shift in dynamics translates into an opening of new opportunities. As financial freedom is slowly bestowed upon AI agents, their ability to operate freely, independently in decentralized ecosystems unravels new ways of growth, innovation, and investment. It also promises long-term value for infrastructural and consumer use cases.