Franklin Templeton, the $1.8 trillion asset manager, is telling investors to look at cryptocurrencies and altcoins as a way to capture the potential of agentic AI. Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets at the firm, argues that AI agents will need to make constant micropayments for compute, data, and services — and traditional payment networks can't handle that.
Why traditional payments don't work for AI agents
Kaul's thesis is straightforward. AI agents will be making thousands of tiny transactions every day. Traditional payment networks charge 2-3% plus flat fees. That makes sub-cent payments impractical. Blockchains, on the other hand, can settle those transactions in seconds and record them automatically. That's the fit Kaul sees as the 'killer' use case driving blockchain adoption.
The x402 protocol and its backers
The x402 payment protocol, originally built by Coinbase, has moved to the Linux Foundation. It's now backed by Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Google, and Circle. That lineup suggests mainstream payment infrastructure is already adapting to the idea of machine-to-machine payments. If those companies are betting on blockchain-based micropayments, the argument for crypto gets stronger.
Solana as an example
Kaul uses Solana as a concrete example. Rising agent activity could increase demand for the native tokens of the chains hosting that activity. More agents making more transactions means more demand for SOL to pay fees. It's a simple supply-and-demand story, but one that ties crypto directly to AI growth.
McKinsey's $3-5 trillion estimate
McKinsey estimates agentic commerce could orchestrate $3 trillion to $5 trillion in revenue by 2030. If a meaningful share of those transactions runs on blockchain networks, demand for cryptocurrencies could rise. That could strengthen the investment case for digital assets beyond AI stocks. The question is whether that share will be meaningful enough to move the needle for crypto markets.
