Stablecoin-powered AI agents are constructing a new global banking infrastructure, moving capital faster and cheaper than legacy systems ever could.
According to Dilip Rao on The a16z Show, Jeeves leverages stablecoins like USDC to bypass correspondent banking. The company converts local currency to USDC for instant settlement, enabling launch in new markets like Peru with minimal overhead. This vertical integration - owning ledger and licenses - expanded margins from 40% to 80%.
"We have four people handling $2-3 billion in TPV. Two years ago, that same task would have required 15 people."
- Dilip Rao, The a16z Show
AI agents automate document ingestion, reconciliation, and GL coding with 99% accuracy, tasks that defined entry-level finance roles. Rao argues CEOs who aren't 'AI-pilled' will lose to native-AI competitors moving at 10x speed.
On Bankless, Sal Ternullo frames NEAR's pivot as a return to its AI-first roots. The protocol aims to be the settlement layer for autonomous agentic commerce via 'Near Intents,' a system for executing complex cross-chain actions.
"Near Intents has processed almost 20 billion in total volume. Its switch in February now directs all fees to buy back and burn the Near token."
- Sal Ternullo, Bankless
Ternullo sees current human usage - wallets like Infinex and Zashi generating over $30 million in fees - as a proving ground for billions of future AI agent transactions. He argues NEAR is currently undervalued, offering a 20-50x opportunity if AI agents adopt its infrastructure.
Both models treat operational complexity and regulatory difficulty as competitive moats. Jeeves builds its own infrastructure stack to avoid the 'as-a-service' trap. NEAR uses a for-profit commercialization partner, Sovere, to execute go-to-market motions non-profit foundations cannot. The race isn't about software alone; it's about who controls the deepest, most defensible layers of the new financial stack.
