Crypto Industry Turns to AI for Revival Amid Market Downturn

At the Consensus Hong Kong cryptocurrency conference held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on February 11, 2026, Thomas Lee, Chairman of BitMine and Chief Investment Officer of Fundstrat, delivered a speech.

The sharp decline in the cryptocurrency market has prompted deep reflection within the industry, as observed at this week's annual Consensus crypto conference in Hong Kong. The prevailing conclusion is that for the crypto sector to remain competitive, it must align its future with the artificial intelligence boom.

This reliance on AI to revive the market carries a sense of irony, given that AI has drawn substantial capital and talent away from the crypto space over the past two years. Nevertheless, "AI agents" emerged as the most discussed topic in nearly every panel discussion and exchange attended. The industry view is that AI agents have the potential to propel the cryptocurrency sector into its next growth cycle.

"We are waiting for a new generation of investors to enter the market," Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner of US crypto venture fund Dragonfly, remarked during the conference. "I believe a significant portion will be young people whose AI agents will transact using cryptocurrencies."

There is an expectation among participants that as AI agents become commonplace, stablecoins will replace credit cards and bank transfers as their preferred payment method. Specific details remain vague, with founders and investors frequently stating, "We are still in the early stages."

Reflecting this forward-looking trend, this year's conference replaced the mixed martial arts performances common at crypto events with robot battles. Two humanoid robots wearing boxing gloves, each representing a figure from the crypto industry, fought in a boxing match until one was knocked down, clumsily collapsing on the stage—this became one of the most visually striking segments of the three-day event.

A underlying concern for the market is that the crypto crash—with Bitcoin falling to $67,000, down 43% since September—could lead to insolvency for some trading firms or funds. BlockFills, a Chicago-based crypto lending firm that facilitated $60 billion in trading volume last year, announced last week that it was suspending client withdrawals, becoming the first crypto business to encounter difficulties in the recent market slump.

"I believe the crypto industry is in a transitional phase," said Jake Brukhman, Founder and CEO of crypto venture fund CoinFund. He noted that companies lacking genuine products or revenue streams "are finding it extremely difficult to raise funds now."

Brukhman and others are betting that AI agents will be more inclined to use cryptocurrencies for transactions, partly because "no bank or credit card company will legally recognize an agent as a natural person." He added that while humans find crypto wallet operations cumbersome, robots would accept them seamlessly through programmed integration.

He pointed to platforms like Moltbook, a Reddit-like forum where bots interact with each other, as offering a glimpse into this future: "We are moving towards a world where many people will deploy fully autonomous agents that possess their own wallets."

Some crypto firms are already moving into this space. Coinbase announced this week the launch of an "Agent Wallet," enabling AI agents to autonomously conduct cryptocurrency transactions without human intervention. Stripe also recently introduced a new feature allowing external developers to charge AI agents using the USDC stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Corp..

However, clear early-use cases for robot-based crypto payments have yet to be defined. One commonly cited example involves a robot monitoring and purchasing low-cost airfare on behalf of a person; even if the owner is asleep and unable to authorize a credit card transaction, the robot could complete the payment using cryptocurrency. For this to happen, major airlines and booking platforms would first need to accept cryptocurrencies, a condition not currently met.

In Asia, the development of stablecoins may not solely depend on AI. In a speech at the conference, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced that the city will issue its first batch of licenses to stablecoin issuers in March of this year. Institutions like Standard Chartered have applied for licenses through joint ventures, aiming to utilize stablecoins for cross-border transactions. Other regional crypto hubs, such as Singapore, are also advancing regulations to legalize and oversee stablecoins.

At a side event, founders of crypto startups expressed hope that as more countries and markets legalize stablecoins, they will see broader application in cross-border remittances. They suggested that Hong Kong's roughly 200,000 Filipino domestic workers could become early adopters, needing to send earnings back home. However, this scenario already faces entrenched competition from Alipay+, the global digital wallet network developed by Chinese fintech giant Ant Group.

Currently, the Asian crypto industry is witnessing a dawn of regulatory compliance. One attendee noted that the increasing regulatory attention in the region "is actually a form of recognition."