Franklin

Sandy

Aptos

<p>Investors have spent the last few years chasing AI growth by buying shares of companies like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/nvidia" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nvidia</a> and <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/microsoft-warns-new-malware-turns-copy-paste-against-you" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Microsoft</a>. But a senior Wall Street executive says that strategy may not work for what comes next.</p><p>Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/franklin-templeton" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Franklin Templeton</a> (NYSE: BEN), an asset manager overseeing approximately $1.78 trillion as of May 31, argues in a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/agentic-aithe-killer-use-case-blockchain-crypto-sandy-kaul-tm94c/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">LinkedIn post</a> that agentic AI, not the generative AI most investors are familiar with, will be the technology that finally drives mainstream blockchain adoption.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/solanas-tokenized-asset-volume-hits-5-8-billion-in-a-record-quarter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Solana's tokenized asset volume hits $5.8 billion in a record quarter</a></strong></p><h2 id="from-chatbots-to-autonomous-agents">From chatbots to autonomous agents</h2><p>Generative AI, the kind behind tools like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/investing/how-to-trade-crypto-using-chatgpt" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ChatGPT</a>, mainly helps people create content and answer questions. Agentic AI is different. It refers to systems that can independently plan and carry out multi-step tasks, from initiating a transaction to tracking it through to completion, without a person guiding every step along the way.&nbsp;</p><p>Kaul cites estimates suggesting agentic commerce, meaning AI agents making purchases and payments on their own, could reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030.</p><p>That shift matters more than it sounds. As AI reshapes how companies spend money, the stakes are already visible. Kaul points to IBM's stock, which plunged 25.2% on July 14 after the company warned that customers were redirecting spending toward AI infrastructure and away from traditional software.</p><h3 id="trending-on-thestreet-roundtable">Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/analyst-who-called-bitcoins-drop-from-100000-to-75000-now-sees-50000-as-the-next-stop" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Analyst who called Bitcoin's drop from $100,000 to $75,000 now sees $50,000 as the next stop</strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/trading/study-finds-most-ai-crypto-trading-agents-arent-really-trading" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Study finds most AI crypto trading agents aren't really trading</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/new-senate-bill-could-ban-trump-from-launching-his-own-tokens" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>New Senate bill could ban Trump from launching his own tokens</strong></a></li></ul><h2 id="why-traditional-payment-systems-fall-short">Why traditional payment systems fall short</h2><p>For AI agents to transact with each other, autonomously and constantly, they need a payment system built for tiny, frequent transactions. A standard credit card charges roughly 2%-3% plus a flat fee near $0.30 per transaction.&nbsp;</p><p>Kaul notes that AI agent payments can cost as little as $0.001, for something like a single second of computing power. Traditional payment rails simply weren't built to handle transactions that small or that frequent.</p><p>Blockchains, Kaul argues, solve this naturally. They can verify a machine's identity cryptographically, record every transaction on a public ledger, and settle payments almost instantly.&nbsp;</p><p>She points to newer, faster blockchains like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/aptos" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Aptos</a> and <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/solana" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Solana</a>, which she says can process thousands of transactions per second, faster than networks like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/bitcoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin</a> or <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/ethereum" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum</a>, and comparable to how quickly Visa's network operates day to day.</p><h2 id="what-this-means-for-investors">What this means for investors</h2><p>Kaul's broader argument is that capturing this shift will require more than owning shares of AI companies.&nbsp;</p><p>As <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/ai-agents" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">AI agents</a> increasingly transact directly on specific <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/blockchains-will-build-a-new-universe" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">blockchains</a>, she expects demand for those blockchains' native <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/cryptocurrencies" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">cryptocurrencies</a>, and the smaller tokens built on top of them, to grow alongside that activity.&nbsp;</p><p>She compares the coming shift to the earlier jump from static websites to interactive, cloud-based apps, arguing that new leaders will emerge just as they did during that transition.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/aptos-now-lets-its-biggest-stakers-run-transactions-at-100x-the-normal-limit" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Aptos now lets its biggest stakers run transactions at 100x the normal limit</a></strong></p>

Top exec at $1.7 trillion Wall Street giant makes bold crypto call

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