Crypto’s New Look: From Basement to Business Cards

The crypto world is moving out of its early‑stage phase and into a more mature period, similar to how people put on a collared shirt instead of pajamas for work. A partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Guy Wuollet, notes that major firms like BlackRock and Fidelity are now offering Bitcoin ETFs and exploring stablecoins and tokenized stocks. This shows that blockchain is gaining traction in mainstream finance. However, the real change for crypto isn’t just Wall Street’s interest. Wuollet points to a growing mix of blockchain and artificial intelligence that could create “agentic commerce. ” In this model, software agents—programs that act on behalf of users—will handle many online transactions. Because blockchain provides a secure, always‑available payment system, it could be especially useful for tiny payments.Large companies are already looking at this idea. For instance, Stripe mentioned agentic payments in its recent communications, and many people with AI backgrounds are moving into crypto because they believe the first real‑world payments on chain will come from these agents. A question remains: Will all these new payment methods use a single standard, or could different companies develop their own protocols? Wuollet believes that even if multiple standards emerge, the ability of AI models to interpret and work with different systems will keep adoption moving forward.