The collision between crypto and AI agents has officially begun. Matthew Stephensen of Pantera Capital research partner and author of “Crypto: Picks and Shovels for the AI Gold Rush,” joins us today.

We dive into the world of autonomous AI agents on blockchains, discussing the evolving role of agents, AI-driven market changes, and whether blockchain is the natural substrate for AI. Matt sheds light on topics from agent liability and regulatory challenges to infrastructure value capture and the "picks and shovels" approach to investing in AI-driven crypto tech.

Are AI agents on blockchains the obvious future? And how do scarcity and abundance interact in this new era? Join us as we tackle these questions and more, exploring what the future might hold at the intersection of AI, autonomy, and blockchain.

------
🍵0x v2 | NEXT GEN PRICING ENGINE
https://bankless.cc/0x

------
📣GET YOUR ALL-ACCESS PASS TO THE PODCAST
https://bankless.cc/podshownotes

------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2 ⁠

🦄UNISWAP | BROWSER EXTENSION
https://bankless.cc/uniswap

🪄MAGIC EDEN | HOME OF WEB3
https://bankless.cc/MagicEden

🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle

🤖 0G | MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE, INEVITABLE
https://bankless.cc/0G

------
✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨
https://zora.co/collect/zora:0x0c294913a7596b427add7dcbd6d7bbfc7338d53f/86?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E

------
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
5:34 Crypto x AI Narrative Shift
6:39 AI & Economic Agents Explained
11:50 GOAT Memecoin Summary
23:15 Were AI Crypto Agents Obvious?
25:18 Luna AI Token & Terminal
29:41 Consequences? Is This Life?
33:27 Exciting Use Cases
40:27 Sam Altman Quote Importance
42:33 Wealth Generation Process & Blockspace
48:15 Programmable Money & Agent MEV
56:14 The AI Agent & Memecoin Thesis
1:03:03 Government & Society Reaction Predictions
1:11:09 No Off Buttons?...
1:13:40 DePin & AI
1:16:45 AI Agent Blockspace Demand
1:19:15 Closing & Disclaimers

------
RESOURCES

Matthew Stephenson
https://x.com/stephensonhmatt

Crypto's Role In The AI Revolution
https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/cryptos-role-in-the-ai-revolution/#crypto-ai-gold-rush

------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures ⁠

Bankless Nation, we’ve got the hottest debate in crypto right now: Are L2s extensions of Ethereum?

On one side, we’ve got Kyle Samani and Max Resnick proposing that the current Ethereum Rollup-Centric Roadmap is off-track. On the other side we’ve got David Hoffman and Jill Gunter defending L2s as successful extensions of Ethereum.

------

📣 GET YOUR ALL ACCESS PASS TO THE PODCAST

https://bankless.cc/podshownotes

------
BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:

🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE
https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2 ⁠

🦄UNISWAP | BROWSER EXTENSION
https://bankless.cc/uniswap

🪄 MAGIC EDEN | HOME OF WEB3
https://bankless.cc/MagicEden

🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK
https://bankless.cc/Mantle

🤖 0G | MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE, INEVITABLE
https://bankless.cc/0G

------
✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨
https://zora.co/collect/zora:0x0c294913a7596b427add7dcbd6d7bbfc7338d53f/85?referrer=0x077Fe9e96Aa9b20Bd36F1C6290f54F8717C5674E

------
TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
8:54 Defending “Extensions of Ethereum”
16:33 Interoperability Standards
25:36 Are L2s Parasitic to Ethereum?
32:37 ETH Economics & Value Accrual
41:30 Solana vs Ethereum L2s
49:09 Closing Thoughts

------
RESOURCES

Kyle Samani
https://x.com/KyleSamani

Max Resnick
https://x.com/MaxResnick1

Jill Gunter
https://x.com/jillrgunter

------
Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures ⁠