# Flop targets AI agent payments as Arthur Hayes sees Ether at $10,000 by year-end

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/insights/34637
Published: 2026-10-19T07:24:53.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-19T07:24:53.000Z
Section: Insights & Views

> Flop Labs CEO Arthur Hayes is building a compute-linked payment network for AI agents. He also expects Ether to reach $10,000 by year-end as investors rotate back into crypto.

AI agents need a dedicated cryptocurrency payment network that lets them purchase computing power directly, according to Arthur Hayes, who argues that stablecoins are unlikely to become the core currency of the agent economy because they are not directly tied to compute.

In an Oct. 17 CoinDesk interview, the BitMEX co-founder, Maelstrom chief investment officer and Flop Labs CEO said he is developing Flop, a cryptocurrency designed for AI agents to spend directly on computational work.

Flop Labs is building a proof-of-useful-inference blockchain based on principles pioneered by Bitcoin. Participants contribute GPUs to process inference requests from AI agents and mine Flop, which agents can then use to purchase compute. Hayes said agents need a purpose-built payment network if they are to communicate and exchange value for work.

Hayes said dollars and stablecoins cannot be converted directly into data-center compute and may also be diluted when governments or issuers expand supply. Flop, by contrast, is created when participants provide useful inference, linking issuance to computational work, he argued.

The project plans to distribute tokens through network participation without a presale or venture capital funding. Users who mine, validate or deploy agents on the test network will receive Flop through an airdrop, with the goal of establishing sufficient supply and a circular economy before the mainnet launches in the first quarter of next year.

Hayes also said deteriorating profitability in the AI industry could revive cryptocurrency demand among Korean retail investors. He expects investors to rotate back into crypto if enthusiasm fades for AI-related stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as leveraged exchange-traded products. He argued that excessive capital allocation to AI could ultimately lead to a global bailout.

Hayes questioned whether leading AI companies can generate adequate returns on invested capital. If they slow their consumption of data centers, he said, the U.S. government could become the buyer of compute of last resort or provide financial support. In his view, holding crypto could offer a way to benefit from an AI-sector collapse.

Hayes named Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethena and Uniswap among the crypto assets he favors. He said Ether is his largest position outside Bitcoin, citing its liquidity, long operating history and status as the layer-1 network with the largest market capitalization. Despite its weak performance in recent years, he described Ether as a potential front-runner and forecast a price of $10,000 by year-end.