Grayscale: Amid AI Impact on Tech Stocks, Blockchain May Become a Long-Term Beneficiary

Odaily News As artificial intelligence triggers volatility in tech stocks and drags down the performance of the software sector, digital asset management firm Grayscale stated that blockchain and AI are not in competition but rather have long-term complementary potential. Blockchain is expected to become a crucial infrastructure for the AI economy.

Grayscale's Head of Research, Zach Pandl, pointed out that although recent price movements in crypto assets have been highly correlated with the decline in software stocks, this synchronized pullback obscures a more constructive long-term relationship between the two technologies. Since the beginning of this year, the S&P 500 Software Index has fallen by approximately 20%, with software and service companies collectively losing about $1 trillion in market capitalization, putting pressure on the valuation of the crypto market as well.

Pandl believes that if AI agents are equipped with digital wallets in the future, they are more likely to conduct transactions via blockchain rather than the traditional banking system. Blockchain's characteristics—such as 24/7 operation, global accessibility, fast settlement, and transparent verifiability—make it an ideal infrastructure for AI agents to perform automated payments and transactions. The growth in small-value, high-frequency stablecoin transaction volumes could be a significant signal of this trend.

Furthermore, Grayscale suggests that blockchain may also help mitigate some risks brought by AI, such as difficulties in verifying data provenance, the proliferation of deepfake content, and the concentration of technological control. Public blockchains can provide verifiable records and a more decentralized infrastructure, thereby creating a certain degree of checks and balances.

However, the report also notes that AI technology could pose new challenges to crypto networks, including more efficient on-chain monitoring potentially weakening privacy protections, and AI tools potentially discovering new security vulnerabilities in smart contracts. Overall, Grayscale believes that the rapid development of AI will bring new use cases to blockchain rather than replace the crypto industry.