Blockchain projects are building payment rails for AI agents. Chainlink, XRP, and NEAR lead the list of altcoins positioned for the next growth phase in machine-to-machine transactions.
The next growth phase for some altcoins may come from a specific corner of the market: infrastructure that lets machines pay each other. Several blockchain projects are building the rails for AI agents to transact, settle payments, and access services without a human in the loop, according to one analyst.
Chainlink (LINK) sits at the center of this trend. Its infrastructure covers data feeds, cross-chain connectivity, and compliance. The Runtime Environment is being built for tokenization and AI-agent use cases. The network has also expanded institutional tokenization partnerships, working with Amundi, Visa, and the Canton network. Its CCIP protocol could become the standard for moving assets between blockchains when AI agents need to do it automatically.
XRP and Stellar (XLM) are taking a different path, focused on fast, cheap settlement. Ripple has integrated the XRP Ledger and its RLUSD stablecoin with the x402 payment standard, which lets AI agents make autonomous on-chain payments. Agentic transactions on XRPL recently crossed 1 million. RippleX expects that number could reach 10 million, and potentially 100 million, as adoption scales. Stellar is already live as a payment and tokenization network, giving XLM exposure to both sides of the trend.
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is pushing chain-abstraction technology and an AI-agent marketplace, where agents can coordinate tasks across different networks. The Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET/ASI) targets the marketplace side, building agents designed to communicate autonomously.
Render (RENDER) takes a supply-side approach, providing decentralized GPU compute. If AI agents need more processing power, Render's network could become a major part of the ecosystem.
Quant (QNT) focuses on connecting blockchain-based payments with traditional financial rails. Avalanche (AVAX) combines its tokenization ecosystem with AI infrastructure through a partnership with Aether. Aethir, a smaller project, holds roughly 400,000 GPUs for AI workloads and generates about $41 million in annual recurring revenue.
Sui (SUI) is preparing for AI-driven transaction growth. The network has been stress-tested at more than 6 million concurrent transactions, the analyst said.
For context, SUI stock page shows an Alpha Score of 51, labeled Mixed, in the Real Estate sector. The broader crypto market analysis covers how infrastructure tokens trade relative to network activity.
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