Ripple and Cardano Target Autonomous AI Agents for Future Blockchain Economies

Crypto commentator Pumpius warned that the rise of autonomous AI agents will strain current Know‑Your‑Customer and anti‑money‑laundering rules, as institutions will need ways to verify the identities of non‑human participants. He noted Ripple’s preparation for such "agentic payments" and highlighted the DNA Protocol’s work on zero‑knowledge, privacy‑preserving credentials on the XRP Ledger to build a digital identity layer for both people and AI agents.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson presented a similar vision, describing how autonomous AI agents could run key functions within Cardano’s ecosystem. His Midnight City demo on the privacy‑focused Midnight sidechain lets AI agents interact, trade and form relationships without human oversight, showcasing how AI‑driven economies might operate on a blockchain while stress‑testing privacy and scalability features.