Tether co-founder said AI will become the “browser moment” for cryptocurrencies, making wallets as easy as a conversation.
Coinbase, Stripe, and Binance have already built the infrastructure Collins described.
Collins argues that new on-chain companies will replace platform models that pay users directly and keep creators underpaid.
The man who built the first stablecoin believes AI agents are about to change the way the entire crypto economy works.
Tether co-founder and first CEO Reeve Collins spoke with analyst and MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe to explain why AI is more than just a crypto story. Collins likened the role of AI in blockchain to what web browsers did for the Internet in 1993, calling it the moment when cryptocurrencies are finally available to everyone.
“You’re relying on an agent to do the trading for you, so AI makes that a lot easier.” Collins said.
talk to your wallet
Collins described a future where users interact with their cryptocurrency wallets through conversations rather than clicks. AI agents handle investments, portfolio rebalancing, and payments on your behalf, routing every trade to the fastest, cheapest, and most profitable path available.
It abstracts away the complexities that still keep most people away from blockchain.
The infrastructure is already built. Coinbase launched Agentic Wallet on February 10, giving AI agents autonomous spending and trading capabilities. A few days ago, Stripe co-founder John Collison predicted a “torrent” of AI agent commerce running on stablecoins. Binance CEO Richard Teng said that AI agents and stablecoins are one of the defining trends of 2026.
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Why stablecoins will become the default currency for AI
Collins argued that stablecoins are uniquely positioned to advance AI-driven payments because they combine price stability with programmable 24/7 payments. Large companies can distribute installment payments to millions of people, allowing for incentive models that were previously impossible due to accounting constraints.
The numbers bear this out. According to Bloomberg and Artemis Analytics, stablecoin trading volume will reach $33 trillion in 2025, up 72% from a year ago and twice the annual trading volume of Visa.
On-chain companies that pay fees to users, not the platform
Collins’ most pointed argument targeted the platform economy itself.
“There will be bespoke companies that can start from scratch purely on-chain, without the overheads of Facebook and with a business model that puts all rewards and profits back into users’ pockets via tokens.” he said.
Analyst Van de Poppe pointed out that content creators are paid significantly less, with 1 million views on YouTube costing around 1,000 euros. Collins agreed, saying several well-funded initiatives are building decentralized platforms to change the game.
“It’s the content creators who are putting all of that value into the system. And they should get paid more.” he said.
Mr. Collins doesn’t just talk. He launched STBL, a next-generation stablecoin protocol backed by OKX Ventures, designed to return revenue to users rather than centralized issuers.
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