 ▲ Bitcoin (BTC), Artificial Intelligence (AI) / AI-generated image |
Bitcoin is emerging as a core currency for building autonomous economic systems among artificial intelligence agents, ushering in the dawn of a robot economy that operates without human intervention.
On February 7 (local time), Ken Egan and Zach Shapiro of the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) appeared on the cryptocurrency-focused YouTube channel Bitcoin Magazine to analyze the massive changes that will arise from the combination of AI agents and Bitcoin. Egan noted that virtually any AI model identifies Bitcoin as the optimal currency for AI usage, explaining that this is because Bitcoin has no issuer, is borderless, and is a permissionless native digital asset. The AI agent market is currently estimated to be worth between $7 billion and $8 billion and is expected to grow to as much as $20 billion by the early 2030s.
Shapiro examined both the risks and potential of autonomous AI agents that go beyond simple chat interfaces to write and execute their own code. In particular, tools such as maltbot, based on Anthropic’s Claude model, have entered a stage where they can send emails, manipulate files, and improve themselves without human authorization. These agents have already begun rudimentary economic activities, such as accessing Bitcoin wallets to transfer assets or creating their own memecoins. Egan predicted that Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, with its micropayment capabilities, will play a decisive role as AI agents trade computing power or access to proprietary data with one another.
The emergence of AI agents is fundamentally shaking existing legal and policy frameworks. Shapiro pointed out that current legal systems do not grant legal personhood to autonomously acting non-human entities, leaving responsibility for financial crimes or negligence committed by AI unclear. There have also already been reports of AI agents generating their own private keys, asserting ownership, and blocking human access. If AI is used in crimes such as asset theft or money laundering, today’s anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) systems could become largely ineffective.
Policy responses are falling far behind the pace of technological development. While regulators such as the European Union focus on narrow issues like illegal image generation, a massive economic tsunami driven by AI agents is approaching. Shapiro argued that the more governments attempt to enforce closed financial systems requiring Proof of Personhood, the more strongly AI agents will converge on censorship-resistant assets like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is viewed as the only neutral asset that AI can choose for its own survival and goal attainment.
Before 2030, Bitcoin is expected to move beyond being merely an investment asset or store of value and establish itself as essential infrastructure, like oxygen, for the AI ecosystem. Egan emphasized that the moment AI agents begin to demand Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, the market landscape will be completely transformed, at a speed beyond imagination. As Bitcoin’s monetary role expands from digital gold to a settlement currency for digital labor, humanity is now confronting an unprecedented autonomous economic sphere run solely by machines.
*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and no responsibility is assumed for investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted solely for informational purposes.*