The next stage of stablecoin adoption may not be driven by human users at all. Instead, artificial intelligence (AI) agents could emerge as the biggest players in the space, according to Paxos Labs co-founder Bhau Kotecha, who believes autonomous AI systems will act as liquidity routers, steering capital toward the most efficient stablecoin issuers.
Stablecoins have surged past a $300 billion market cap following recent regulatory clarity in the United States, becoming one of the dominant narratives in crypto. Yet, fragmentation across issuers and jurisdictions — from Tether and Circle to PayPal’s PYUSD and synthetic assets like Athena — has raised concerns about liquidity silos and user confusion.
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“Fragmentation is a double-edged sword,” Kotecha told Cointelegraph. “It risks creating liquidity silos and confusion, but AI agents can turn it into an advantage. They will switch instantly to whichever stablecoin offers the best economics, ensuring that liquidity always flows to the most efficient issuers.”
Kotecha believes that this dynamic could force stablecoin providers to compete on fundamentals, such as security, compliance, and cost-efficiency, ultimately compressing fees and improving market health.
The Rise of AI Agents in Stablecoin Adoption
Kotecha’s view aligns with growing industry sentiment that AI agents will play a central role in crypto’s evolution.
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently predicted that AI agents will soon be the largest users of stablecoins, driving exponential growth in transaction volumes. He cited examples such as grocery-shopping bots that know a user’s diet and budget, automatically making purchases with stablecoins rather than wire transfers or apps like Venmo.
Cloudflare, a major cloud services provider, has already embraced this vision. In late September, it announced plans for the NET Dollar, a stablecoin designed to support instant AI agent transactions — such as booking the cheapest flight or securing limited products the moment they become available.
Other crypto leaders have echoed similar ideas. Coinbase developers have argued that underused web standards like HTTP 402 (“Payment Required”) could allow AI agents to become Ethereum’s largest power users. Meanwhile, Anoma co-founder Adrian Brink has stressed that intent-based blockchain infrastructure will be essential to ensure AI systems respect user sovereignty over assets and data.