Sandy Kaul argues AI agents need blockchain micropayments, not card networks. With x402 processing 109M transactions and Visa adapting, the race for the agentic economy's settlement layer is on.
Franklin Templeton has identified AI agents as the next definitive use case for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and innovation at the firm, published an analysis of more than 1,800 words arguing that the autonomous agents economy will drive demand for blockchain protocols capable of processing machine-to-machine micropayments. Traditional card networks are incompatible with agentic payments due to high fees and long settlement times, she said.
Kaul raised a central question about investment strategy. The usual model of buying shares in companies aligned with artificial intelligence may not hold in the era of AI agents, she wrote. Exposure will need to shift toward decentralized infrastructure.
Networks such as Aptos and Solana settle transactions in seconds, compared with one to three business days for Visa. BNB Chain offers similar speeds. That positions them as natural infrastructure for the agentic economy, Kaul said.
A joint report published the previous week by Visa and analytics platform Artemis pointed to the same diagnosis. Traditional cards designed for low-frequency human commerce are insufficient for AI agents, the report concluded. Agents require near-zero fees and near-instant settlement for micropayments to be commercially viable.
The crypto industry is already recording signs of adoption. The x402 payments protocol, built by Coinbase and launched in May 2025, processed $15 million in adjusted volume and more than 109 million transactions, according to the Visa and Artemis report. Visa's crypto division and Tempo, backed by Stripe, launched AI tools in March. Visa's solution allows autonomous agents to execute same-day payments.
For investors, the read-through extends beyond Franklin Templeton's core argument. Networks with fast finality and low costs – Aptos, Solana, BNB Chain – stand to benefit if agentic micropayments scale. Coinbase's x402 protocol already demonstrates the use case in production. Kaul's own analysis suggests that the infrastructure layer, not the AI application layer, may be where the next wave of value accrues.
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