Ethereum-based DAT firm SharpLink makes its case
Stablecoins seen as a giant 'fee compressor'
The CEO of SharpLink, an Ethereum-based digital asset treasury company, predicted that the spread of AI agents will fundamentally reshape financial services — from payments to remittances. As AI takes over the management of idle funds and the execution of transactions on behalf of individuals, the role of Ethereum and stablecoin-based financial infrastructure is expected to grow.
SharpLink CEO Joseph Shalom said at "Ethereum Korea One: Genesis," held at Conrad Seoul in Yeouido on Monday, that "AI agents can perform tasks on behalf of ordinary consumers that those consumers cannot do themselves, drawing on virtually unlimited financial literacy and attention."
Shalom highlighted AI agents' potential to overcome the human "attention gap" in financial services. "In most societies, financial literacy is scarce, and human attention is scarce," he said. "Machine intelligence can have effectively unlimited financial literacy and attention."
He pointed to idle cash in the United States as a prime example. "US checking and savings accounts hold about $15 trillion," he said, noting that interest rates on checking accounts stand at roughly 7 basis points and savings accounts at around 35 basis points.
"American consumers are losing roughly $180 billion a year in opportunity costs by failing to put their idle funds to work," he said. The problem stems not necessarily from a lack of financial knowledge, he added, but from a lack of time to pay sustained attention to asset management. If AI agents were to continuously manage funds on behalf of individuals, the way long-neglected idle cash is deployed could change dramatically.
Shalom also addressed the potential for disruption in the payments and remittance markets. "Global remittances cost around 6 percent to send money abroad," he said. "Stablecoins will become a giant fee compressor."
He projected that by 2035, a market worth roughly $14 trillion — equivalent to about one-quarter of all financial services fees — could be affected by this shift. If incumbent banks and payment providers fail to build new business models, he said, crypto-native entrants could take their place.
Shalom added that "AI agents will ultimately need to use open standards," and that "Ethereum can become more than just a settlement layer for capital markets — it can be the foundational financial rail on which the future of money and the entire agent economy runs."
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
