The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency is entering a new phase, with crypto platforms beginning to build infrastructure specifically designed for autonomous AI agents while regulators warn about the growing influence of AI-driven financial advice on younger investors.
Recent announcements from crypto exchanges and payment infrastructure providers suggest the industry is preparing for an “agent economy” in which AI systems can research markets, manage assets and execute transactions autonomously. At the same time, policymakers are raising concerns about how AI tools and social media may influence retail investors’ behavior.
KuCoin launches AI-ready skills marketplace
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has introduced Skills Hub, a new open marketplace designed to connect AI agents directly with crypto trading infrastructure.
The platform converts complex exchange functions into modular “skills” that AI systems can call programmatically, allowing developers and institutions to build automated workflows for research, trading and asset management.
Skills Hub is compatible with major AI agent frameworks and development environments and provides access to trading data and tools across spot, margin and derivatives markets.
The goal is to make crypto infrastructure more accessible to autonomous systems capable of interacting with exchanges through natural-language interfaces and programmable capabilities.
The move reflects a broader trend toward agent-compatible financial infrastructure, where digital assets and blockchain systems can serve as execution layers for AI-driven financial services.
MoonPay introduces Ledger-secured AI trading agents
Crypto payments firm MoonPay has also launched new infrastructure aimed at the emerging agent economy with the release of MoonPay Agents, the first AI agent designed to operate with a hardware-secured signing mechanism.
The feature integrates the agent system with hardware wallets from Ledger, allowing users to verify and approve every transaction generated by an AI agent directly on a physical device.
The integration means private keys never leave the hardware wallet, addressing one of the biggest security barriers to autonomous crypto trading.
Under this architecture, AI agents can execute trading strategies, rebalance portfolios or perform cross-chain transfers, while users retain final control over each transaction.
Industry observers see this type of human-in-the-loop security model as a key step toward broader adoption of AI-powered financial agents.
As Chris Jones, Managing Director at PSE Consulting recently explained: “It is also important to separate cause from effect. Many merchants are cautious about fully enabling agentic commerce not because consumers lack interest, but because the underlying systems are not yet ready. As merchants and platforms strengthen these foundations, the convenience of agent driven commerce is likely to drive wider adoption.” The same stays true for crypto and trading economy.
Regulators warn about AI “finfluencers” and crypto hype
While crypto firms are building tools for autonomous trading and AI-powered financial workflows, regulators are increasingly focused on the risks posed by AI-driven investment advice and online influencers.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission recently warned that social media influencers and AI-generated financial content could encourage speculative investment behavior among younger users.
A survey cited by the regulator found that 23% of Gen Z respondents already hold cryptocurrency, surpassing the proportion investing in traditional shares. The data also showed that more than half of young investors trust financial information shared on social media, while AI tools ranked as the most trusted source of financial information for many respondents.
Regulators caution that influencer-driven content can create unrealistic expectations about returns and may expose inexperienced investors to scams or highly volatile assets.
Meanwhile, the New York-based fintech startup Mine has just recently raised $14 million in Series A funding to launch MoneyGPT, an AI-powered financial assistant designed specifically for Gen Z users.
