a16z Maps 11 Crypto-AI Intersections: Identity, Payments, Ownership

Andreessen Horowitz’s analysis, published on January 20, argues that the internet is rapidly evolving toward interfaces dominated by AI prompts. This shift raises urgent questions about control—specifically, who governs data, distribution, and revenue as traditional websites lose traffic to AI intermediaries. The firm contends that blockchains can provide a neutral, foundational layer for these emerging AI systems. This infrastructure would support persistent user context, portable digital identities for AI agents, and on-chain payment systems that operate without the permission of platform gatekeepers, directly addressing the centralization of power among a few large technology firms.

The vision reframes crypto’s value proposition from pure financial speculation to critical web3 infrastructure. By establishing a decentralized base layer, blockchain networks could enable a more competitive and user-centric AI ecosystem. This perspective is echoed by industry leaders like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who has advocated for leaving centralized social media in favor of decentralized platforms that use shared data layers. The Ethereum Foundation has moved in this direction, launching an AI team focused on making Ethereum a settlement layer for AI agents, a goal developer Davide Crapis says requires neutral infrastructure for value transfer and reputation.

A central theme in a16z’s outline is establishing trust and identity in an AI-saturated environment. The firm highlights the need for decentralized proof-of-personhood systems to help platforms reliably distinguish humans from bots without relying on centralized ID providers. This addresses a core vulnerability as AI becomes more sophisticated. The post points to existing projects pioneering this space, including World’s Proof of Human and the Solana Attestation Service, which allows users to link off-chain credentials to crypto wallets while maintaining data privacy.

Payments represent another major intersection. a16z describes how blockchain networks could facilitate seamless micropayments between AI agents, content creators, and end-users. This is particularly relevant for resolving tensions around AI’s use of third-party content, enabling revenue-sharing models when AI tools rely on copyrighted or proprietary data. The firm notes that nearly half of all internet traffic now comes from automated sources, while website operators increasingly block AI scrapers—a conflict pushing companies like Cloudflare to sell blocking tools. Blockchain-based micropayments could create a direct economic relationship, where web crawlers or AI agents pay sites for data access.

The third pillar focuses on computational resources. a16z highlighted decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) as a mechanism to pool globally distributed, unused compute and energy resources for intensive AI training and inference tasks. By aggregating hardware from sources like gaming PCs and independent data centers, these networks aim to reduce the AI industry’s overwhelming reliance on a handful of large cloud providers, potentially lowering costs and increasing resilience.

a16z’s map is forward-looking and does not claim these systems are on the cusp of mass adoption. Several use cases, such as fully open agent-to-agent markets or user-owned AI companions, are explicitly described as longer-term ideas. However, the outline provides a crucial strategic framework showing where leading investors and developers believe crypto can insert itself as AI evolves from isolated tools into pervasive, always-on intermediaries managing interactions between people, data, and capital.

The firm’s analysis reflects a broader consensus within the crypto industry that decentralization is a necessary counterweight to AI centralization. The recurring focus on identity, payments, and ownership underscores fundamental challenges that both technologies must solve. By mapping these 11 intersections, Andreessen Horowitz is not just predicting a convergence but actively charting a course for development, signaling to its portfolio and the wider market where the most significant opportunities—and necessary infrastructure—are likely to emerge in the coming years.