Wall Street Perspective: Stablecoins, AI Agents, and the Future of Payments
Bank of America research report emphasizes that stablecoins, due to their "developer-friendly" programming language features, are expected to become the preferred currency for the future automated economy. The rise of AI agents is a key catalyst for the widespread adoption of stablecoins. Global banks are exploring G7 stablecoins, and major players are actively investing in infrastructure, indicating the enormous potential of on-chain payments. However, stablecoins still need to compete fiercely with the evolving traditional payment systems amid challenges such as cost, regulation, and sovereignty
When autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents begin to conduct commercial transactions, what currency will they choose? The latest insights from Wall Street suggest that the answer may point to stablecoins.
According to news from the Wind Trading Desk, in a recent research report from Bank of America on October 13, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu pointed out that with the rise of "agentic commerce," AI developers have a strong preference for stablecoins.
Hsu stated in discussions with Bank of America's experts: "They like stablecoins. Why? Because it is a programming language, very simple... very friendly to programmers and developers." He believes this could make stablecoins the preferred form of currency in future automated economic systems.
This forward-looking view is increasingly being validated by the actions of financial institutions. According to Reuters, ten major global banks are exploring the issuance of stablecoins pegged to G7 currencies. Meanwhile, Citigroup's venture capital arm, Citi Ventures, recently announced an investment in stablecoin payment infrastructure startup BVNK. Reports indicate that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and payment giant Mastercard have also discussed acquiring BVNK, highlighting the fierce competition for the infrastructure needed for "on-chain" asset migration.
However, this payment revolution is not without its challenges. Traditional payment system operators are not sitting idle, and their existing networks are evolving at an astonishing pace. David Watson, CEO of payment service provider The Clearing House (TCH), emphasized that its real-time payment (RTP) network and the FedNow system supported by the Federal Reserve can already provide programmability and many other features. This indicates that emerging stablecoins will compete directly with an increasingly powerful and efficient traditional payment system.
Agentic AI: An Unexpected Catalyst for Stablecoin Adoption
In the future automated economy, the driving force behind payments may no longer be humans, but AI agents. Bank of America's report clearly identifies this key catalyst.
Michael Hsu's view is that when AI agents engage in commercial activities, they need a medium of exchange that matches their digital-native attributes.
Stablecoins fit this need perfectly. Hsu explains that developers can easily create a wallet and transact using stablecoins without having to interact with traditional banking systems.
This "developer-friendly" characteristic gives it a natural advantage in a programming-driven business environment. If agentic commerce grows as expected, the demand for stablecoins may become the core driving force behind their widespread adoption.
The Battle for Payment Tracks: Stablecoins vs. Traditional Systems
Although the prospects for stablecoins are enticing, they must face fierce competition from existing payment giants. David Watson, CEO of TCH, provides a sobering perspective in the report: Traditional payment tracks are far from outdated. Strong Momentum of Traditional Real-Time Payments (RTP): Watson pointed out that TCH's real-time payment network has seen a surge in users over the past 24 months after an initial slow growth. This proves that in the domestic payment sector, systems like RTP and the Federal Reserve's FedNow have already provided efficient and low-cost solutions.
Core Advantage Areas of Stablecoins: Watson believes that stablecoins are unlikely to disrupt the existing system in the domestic payment sector in the United States; their true utility lies in areas such as cross-border payments, remittances, and wholesale markets, where there are currently significant frictions. Currently, cross-border payments rely on messaging systems like SWIFT to connect two independent domestic payment systems, making the process complex and efficiency needing improvement. Stablecoins and Tokenized Deposits are expected to bring disruptive changes in these areas.
Infrastructure Competition Heats Up, Giants Compete to "Sell Shovels"
As on-chain assets become a trend, a "gold rush" around underlying infrastructure has begun, with industry giants competing to be the "shovel sellers."
The report emphasizes that the current performance bottlenecks of blockchain are the main obstacles to the large-scale implementation of payment applications. Michael Hsu mentioned, that existing blockchains have issues such as "low throughput, unpredictable Gas fees, and probabilistic settlement," which are unacceptable for payment scenarios that pursue immediacy and certainty.
For this reason, giants in the payment sector have chosen to personally "build the roads." Innovators in the payment field such as Circle (Arc), Stripe (Tempo), and PayPal (Stable) have announced plans to develop their own Layer 1 (L1) blockchains.
This trend, combined with Citigroup's investment in BVNK and the acquisition intentions of Coinbase and Mastercard, clearly indicates the market's high recognition of the value of infrastructure such as stablecoin payment channels. This race to build underlying public chains aims to create a more efficient and reliable foundation for future payment scenarios.
The Path to Implementation Still Faces Multiple Obstacles
From concept to widespread application, the future of stablecoins still needs to overcome multiple real-world obstacles, including costs, regulation, and sovereignty.
First is the cost issue. David Watson reminds us that although blockchain supporters often emphasize its low costs, the core costs of clearing and settlement in traditional payment networks are "minimal," and institutions like TCH and the Federal Reserve are not primarily profit-driven. Watson emphasizes that in areas where non-profit organizations provide services, the cost advantages of for-profit stablecoin providers may be offset, and the actual core costs of clearing and settlement are indeed very low. Additionally, the adoption of new technologies by enterprises and financial institutions requires significant costs for technological transformation and integration, and the "end-to-end" real costs of stablecoins, including interoperability with existing financial tools, have not received sufficient attention.
Second is regulatory certainty. The report mentions that the passage of relevant legislation is crucial for establishing rules to ensure the safety and robustness of the stablecoin system and to provide law enforcement with the necessary tools, such as the ability to freeze and destroy tokens when illegal activities like money laundering or evading sanctions are detected Finally, the issue of sovereignty cannot be ignored. Watson envisions that if savers in a high-interest and high-inflation country massively exchange their local currency for dollar stablecoins, the government of that country is unlikely to welcome the loss of its deposit base and the weakening of its currency control. This could trigger protectionist measures, adding variables to the global expansion of stablecoins.
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