AI agents will become a 'killer use case' for blockchain payments: Franklin Templeton analysis
Artificial intelligence in the form of autonomous agents has the potential to radically transform the landscape of consumer payments, and blockchain will play a key role in this process. This conclusion follows from an in-depth analysis conducted by Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at Franklin Templeton.
In my opinion, the traditional payment infrastructure is indeed not optimized for the era of agentic AI. High fees, lengthy settlement periods, and mandatory human involvement all become bottlenecks when it comes to transactions initiated and executed by machines.
"Blockchain will play a key role in realizing the potential of agentic AI for consumer transactions," Kaul emphasizes.
Why blockchain, not Visa?
Agentic AI is radically different from simple chatbots. It is capable not just of answering questions, but of independently executing complex sequences of actions: paying for data access, launching computing power, or calling paid APIs. Franklin Templeton cites forecasts from Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company, according to which, by 2030, AI agents could account for 15% to 25% of e-commerce sales in the U.S. and "orchestrate" between $3 and $5 trillion in global consumer transactions.
Such volumes require an infrastructure with near-zero fees, high throughput, and instant settlement. This is precisely where blockchain demonstrates its advantage, allowing transactions to be recorded and finalized simultaneously without the involvement of an intermediary bank.
Network comparison: from Bitcoin to Solana
In its analysis, Franklin Templeton provides a clear comparison of network throughput. Bitcoin processes about 7 TPS, Ethereum approximately 75 TPS. For comparison, Visa processes 1,700–10,000 TPS in normal mode, but its final settlement takes 1–3 business days. Against this backdrop, next-generation blockchains look much more attractive: Aptos demonstrates up to 12,933 TPS, Solana up to 6,284 TPS, and BNB Chain up to 3,252 TPS.
It is obvious that the growth of agentic payments will directly increase demand for the native assets of the networks where these operations are conducted. Franklin Templeton cites SOL and ETH as examples of such assets.
Infrastructure is already being built
Notably, the infrastructure for such payments is not just being discussed but is already actively being created. The x402 payment protocol from Coinbase, which allows services to accept automatic payments from people and AI agents without creating accounts, has already received strong support. In July, the Linux Foundation announced the launch of the x402 Foundation, which includes 40 participants, including AWS, Google, Mastercard, Visa, Coinbase, Stripe, Circle, Shopify, Solana Foundation, and Stellar Development Foundation.
Additionally, Google has introduced the open Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), and for Web3 scenarios, the A2A x402 extension has been developed with participation from Coinbase, Ethereum Foundation, and MetaMask. This indicates that the largest players in the technology and financial industries see AI agents not just as a trend, but as a fundamental shift in how transactions will be conducted.
Expert opinion: I believe we are on the verge of forming a new class of assets — "agent tokens," the demand for which will be determined not by speculation, but by real economic utility. Networks that can provide the best combination of speed, cost, and security for machine transactions will gain a tremendous competitive advantage. Investors should closely monitor the development of projects focused on this niche.