Introduction to Stage 6
AI × Crypto and the future on-chain economy. Agent research, trading, wallets, payments, and what Crypto eventually becomes.
The questions this stage addresses
When software acquires a wallet, a budget, and execution capabilities, it becomes an economic actor. This matters to Crypto much more than another chain.
This stage answers four questions: how AI changes research and trading, why agents may need chains, what circuit breakers an agent wallet needs, and how machines pay each other for an API call.
The final chapter returns to chapter 1: what is money? Your answer will be completely different.
Six chapters
Why should we trust AI's conclusions?
What can be delegated to AI, and what absolutely cannot?
How can software with no ID open an account and make payments?
What must be set before handing a wallet to AI?
How do machines pay each other for an API call?
Back to Chapter 1: What exactly is money?
After this stage
You can design a complete permission scheme for an agent and explain who bears losses when it fails.
Stage artifact: An agent permission design covering budgets, allowlists, approval boundaries, and audit logs.
Study suggestions
- Read AI's Place in Crypto OS first. Remember the Safety Stack and the forbidden architecture. Everything here builds on them.
- Chapter 33 asks you to write a serious counterargument: when are traditional payments more suitable? Understanding includes explaining the boundaries.
- Technical readers can compare this stage with Part B's T32–T36.