AI Agents and Blockchain: Why NEAR’s Illia Polosukhin Says Crypto’s Future Is Invisible

For years, the crypto industry has searched for its next defining breakout like DeFi summer or the NFT boom. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence has seamlessly integrated into everyday life. From developers using ChatGPT as a coding co-pilot to consumers relying on AI assistants for email drafting, travel planning, and workflow automation, AI adoption has surged. In contrast, blockchain technology still feels largely infrastructural and finance-focused.

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, believes that gap between AI and crypto is about to close — but not in the way many expect. According to Polosukhin, AI agents will become the primary users of blockchain networks. “AI is going to be on the front end, and blockchain is going to be the back end,” he explained, emphasizing that AI will serve as the interface layer while crypto operates behind the scenes.

Rather than interacting directly with wallets, blockchain explorers, or transaction hashes, users will rely on AI-powered agents to manage assets, execute payments, coordinate services, and even participate in DAO governance. In this model, blockchain infrastructure becomes invisible, acting as a neutral financial settlement layer that provides security, ownership, verifiability, and programmable incentives.

Polosukhin also criticized the crypto sector’s recent obsession with AI-themed tokens, memecoins, and speculative trading bots, arguing that such trends damage credibility and alienate serious AI developers. He believes blockchain’s true strength lies in powering neutral markets and trusted execution systems for AI-driven economies.

As AI systems increasingly handle financial decisions — from paying bills to allocating capital — they will require secure, decentralized financial rails. Polosukhin suggests that while blockchain is inherently financial, finance touches nearly every aspect of life.

If artificial intelligence becomes the operating system of the internet, blockchain may not be the application users see, but the invisible infrastructure enabling AI agents to transact, govern, and coordinate securely in a decentralized digital economy.