Coinbase says AI agents could be the future of crypto, highlighting Bittensor, Kite, and Virtuals Protocol

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said AI agents will “change everything,” and Coinbase Global appears to be aligning with that view. The company has suggested that AI agents could be the future of crypto, prompting renewed investor interest in blockchain projects positioned for AI-agent use cases.

Three crypto projects on the AI-agent radar

Bittensor: Layer 1 for decentralized AI projects

At the top of the list is Bittensor (TAO +1.10%), a decentralized blockchain protocol used for sharing and training large language models (LLMs). It functions as a Layer 1 blockchain for open-source, decentralized AI projects and is positioned to host AI-agent projects on its network.

The article points to MyShell as one of the best-known projects on Bittensor, citing 6 million users and 265,000 AI agents created.

Performance and size metrics cited include: Bittensor is up more than 45% for the year and has a market cap of $3.5 billion, placing it among the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market value.

Kite: Payment blockchain for AI agents

Second is Kite (KITE +0.00%), described as purpose-built in 2025 for AI agents. Kite positions itself as “the first AI payment blockchain.”

For the year, Kite is up 69%, and its market cap is reported as almost $275 million. The article also notes that Coinbase invested in Kite in October through its VC arm, and that Kite has since gained a listing on Coinbase—making it more accessible to retail investors than smaller AI-focused tokens.

Virtuals Protocol: Platform for creating and monetizing AI agents

Finally, the article highlights Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL +0.42%), a platform for creating, owning, and monetizing AI agents. It was described as a “hot new AI crypto” when it began trading in 2024, including a period when it was the top-performing cryptocurrency globally.

Market data cited for Virtuals Protocol

• Current price: $0.67
• Day’s range: $0.67 – $0.69
• 52-week range: $0.45 – $2.53
• Market cap: $442M
• Volume: 49M

Despite the earlier surge, the article says hype has faded, describing a pattern of a short-lived spike followed by a sharp decline and smaller attempts to recover. It also states that VIRTUAL trades at an 87% discount to its all-time high from January 2025.

Why the article also points to Coinbase

The article characterizes Bittensor, Kite, and Virtuals Protocol as “highly risky bets,” and suggests a potentially less-risky approach would be to invest in a company—such as Coinbase—that is actively backing the AI-agent thesis. It cites Coinbase’s experimentation with giving AI agents their own crypto wallets and its openness to the idea of AI agents trading tokenized equities and prediction market contracts on its platform.

The article concludes with a reminder that crypto investing is volatile and speculative, and that this is especially true for AI-focused tokens, urging investors to conduct due diligence.