SharpLink CEO Predicted Ethereum Dominance for AI Agents
The firm projects that autonomous financial agents could redistribute trillions in global banking revenue by 2035.
Updated on Sept. 23, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom has forecasted that Ethereum will become the primary host for financial activity managed by artificial intelligence agents. This shift follows significant early adoption of identity protocols by autonomous agents.
Why it matters
The race to capture financial-service revenue is accelerating as major payment processors and crypto exchanges compete to control the infrastructure that hosts these autonomous agents. Ownership of the underlying network determines the capture of fees and customer loyalty in an automated economy.
The ERC-8004 identity protocol has seen 10,000 agent registrations in 10 weeks, while existing AI agents have already settled hundreds of millions in stablecoin payments via Base and Solana.
The players
Joseph Chalom
The CEO of SharpLink who oversees the firm's strategic focus on AI-driven financial infrastructure.
SharpLink
A technology firm focused on the intersection of AI agents and decentralized financial systems.
Visa
A global payments processor currently competing to secure the infrastructure hosting AI-driven financial transactions.
Circle
A fintech company specializing in digital currency and stablecoin infrastructure for institutional and AI-agent financial use cases.
Coinbase
A centralized digital asset exchange facilitating the integration of AI agents into decentralized financial markets.
The details
Autonomous agents—software programs capable of performing tasks without human intervention—utilize blockchain infrastructure to execute complex financial logic. They conduct asset management by comparing interest rates, risk profiles, and tax implications across various markets to make lending decisions or pledge assets as collateral. By managing these parameters through smart contracts—self-executing code stored on a blockchain—agents can optimize financial outcomes independently.
Timeline
Over 10 weeks following the ERC-8004 protocol launch in 2026, 10,000 agents registered.
Global financial-services revenue redistribution is projected to reach $1 trillion annually by 2030.
Financial-services revenue redistribution is expected to rise to $4 trillion annually by 2035.
The Tech Race
The push for Ethereum-hosted agent activity marks a departure from traditional legacy banking systems. This movement follows the rapid adoption of the ERC-8004 identity protocol, which serves as a competitive benchmark for establishing digital autonomy in finance.
Consumers could potentially save $350 billion annually by 2030 and $1.4 trillion by 2035 in transaction and management fees as agents optimize financial services. These savings depend on widespread adoption of agent-compatible infrastructure by major financial institutions.
The takeaway
The transition toward AI-driven asset management is shifting competitive power from traditional banks to the networks that host autonomous agent identity. Investors and technologists should monitor the integration of AI-agent protocols with major payment rails like Visa and Mastercard over the next five years.
Further reading
For more on how machine learning influences global economic systems, visit the Artificial Intelligence section.
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