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This is the 97th edition of The Web3 + AI Daily - your definitive guide to the intersection of blockchain and AI! The bull market may be back thanks to AI - although Anthropic‘s $2T IPO may draw liquidity away from crypto. Meanwhile, AI labs “agreed” to self-regulate while their chatbors almost cost us World War III 🤐
As part of our Friday tradition, I’m sharing a collection of opinion pieces and conversations that will inform and shape your understanding of the latest events and news.
Thank you for being here! Let’s dive in.
What’s Hot in Web3 + AI?
BlackRock: Digital Assets Connect Intelligence, Commerce, and Compute
BlackRock published a research paper examining how the growing adoption of AI triggers demand, utility, and application growth across the digital asset economy. It argues that the bidirectional relationship between blockchain and AI remains underappreciated: AI can act as a structural catalyst for digital asset adoption, while digital assets can, in turn, serve as an important facilitator of the AI economy.
The report explores three areas of overlap between AI and crypto:
The analogous tokenization architectures that LLMs and blockchains share:
The functions are distinct, but both workflows translate real-world inputs into formats that machines can use natively.
The fact that the rise of agentic commerce cannot materialize without machine-native payment rails:
Existing rails such as ACH and card networks support substantial automation, although their onboarding requirements and settlement economics can make them less suited to always-on, very low-value transactions requiring programmable execution. Emerging protocols such as x402 and ACP are being deployed on blockchain networks and alongside adaptations to traditional payment rails, creating a transaction and settlement layer for more complex agentic workflows.
Compute emerging as a new and potentially large market for digital assets:
As agents become more capable and persistent, standardized claims on compute capacity could become a significant digital asset use case for financing and programmable settlement.
Read the full study here and let me know your thoughts.
Agentic Economy as Crypto’s PMF
Actually, in a conversation with Laura Shin, Crypto Banter‘s Ran Neuner cited this BlackRock study as evidence supporting his thesis: that crypto may have finally found its product-market fit in enabling agentic commerce.
Neuner also argues that the AI expansion is already fueling another crypto bull market - potentially the largest in history. Yet, with Anthropic reportedly gearing up for what could be the largest IPO in history, targeting a $2 trillion valuation, even more liquidity could be drawn away from the crypto market.
Web3 + AI Readings & Conversations
Utopia and Dystopia as the Two Sides of the Same Coin
In the span of just a month, Anthropic, found itself at the center of a media whirlwind. First, a former employee raised alarms about the existential risks AI poses to humanity. Then, its founder, Dario Amodei, called on the industry to slow the pace of AI development while making no comparable commitment on behalf of Anthropic itself. And then came reports that the company could go public as early as November, seeking a valuation of $2 trillion on the open market.
If that sequence of events strikes you as contradictory, you’re not alone.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the language used to frame AI as a technology that could “kill us all” serves as a way of shifting responsibility for AI’s consequences away from the companies building it.
I was serious when I described Amodei’s call to pace AI development as a potential first step toward the cartelization of the industry. And now, after Trump “invited” AI companies to self-regulate, the question is whether we are witnessing precisely that: regulatory capture accompanied by a weakening of antitrust constraints.
However, as Timnit Gebru clarifies in her interview for Democracy Now! Productions, the “AI going rogue” and “AI is superintelligent” narratives may be far more dangerous than we realize. Because when people begin treating fallible chatbots as sources of universal truth, the consequences are no longer confined to the digital realm - they can have very real-world consequences.
These narratives already shape decisions at the highest levels of government and foreign policy. This past week, they brought us dangerously close to the ignition of World War III.
How much further are we willing to let this go?
Thank you for reading! I hope you found this article insightful.
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The Web3 + AI Book Club is live on Fable. Our October title is 'Against Tech Oligarchy' by JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine. Follow the link below and come join our literary community.
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Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice or as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any of the companies or assets mentioned.
Please don’t take my views at face value. Instead, do your own research (DYOR), think critically, and share your perspective so we can challenge ideas, learn from one another, and arrive at better conclusions through thoughtful discussion.