Cathie Wood Says Investors May Need to ‘Follow the Agents’…
By Abdelaziz Fathi
AI summary of the source article
Speaking at Robinhood's Summit, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood suggested investors "follow the agents" to track where autonomous AI systems spend money on software, computing resources, and data. This shift highlights a competition between traditional payment rails and blockchain-based stablecoins to power machine-to-machine commerce. Protocols such as Coinbase's x402, backed by companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Ripple, have already recorded millions of machine transfers, though transaction values remain very small. While BlackRock and other proponents highlight crypto as machine-native money, competition from tech and card giants means crypto's long-term capture of agentic commerce remains unsettled.
Why it matters
Autonomous AI agents could become a major source of transaction volume, determining whether blockchains and stablecoins or traditional card rails capture the future of machine-driven commerce.
Key facts
- Cathie Wood introduced the 'follow the agents' thesis at Robinhood's Summit in Houston.
- Coinbase's x402 protocol recorded 8.7 million machine-to-machine transfers in a single week totaling about $368,000, averaging roughly four cents per transaction.
- Major payment and technology companies backing the x402 standard include Visa, Mastercard, and Ripple.