The Head of Digital Belongings and Innovation for a $2 trillion asset supervisor “simply stated to purchase ETH,” commented former BlackRock VP and host of Milk Highway Day by day, John Gillen, on Tuesday. His assertion got here in response to a prolonged submit on X from Franklin’s Sandy Kaul on the use instances for crypto in agentic AI funds.
Most buyers purchase shares of AI-aligned firms to seize the expansion alternative immediately, he stated. US inventory markets have boomed with the S&P 500 climbing 20% over the previous 12 months to an all-time excessive in early June, largely pushed by tech and AI shares.
Nevertheless, the identical playbook might not work for agentic AI, he stated.
Ethereum is the AI Wager
AI brokers can independently provoke, observe, and fulfill transactions, and estimates recommend agentic commerce may attain $3 to $5 trillion by 2030.
Legacy fee rails with excessive charges and gradual transaction occasions don’t work for micropayments. Moreover, AI brokers can’t open financial institution accounts or entry monetary companies, which have rafts of strict KYC necessities.
Due to this fact, it’s possible that AI brokers will use decentralized blockchains to transact, and Ethereum and its layer-2 networks are the present trade normal with the most important developer base and institutional assist.
“I imagine what’s going to develop into more and more clear in coming years is that with the intention to seize the worth of decentralized networks and companies, buyers might want to purchase the cryptocurrencies and altcoins being issued by these entities.”
“Such investments are prone to develop into key holdings in portfolios, particularly for these seeking to seize the rising agentic AI alternative,” he added.
The Head of Digital Belongings and Innovation for a ~$2T Asset Supervisor simply stated to purchase $ETH
“I imagine what’s going to develop into more and more clear in coming years is that with the intention to seize the worth of decentralized networks and companies, buyers might want to purchase the cryptocurrencies… https://t.co/KeaHLq7Aid
— John Gillen – WartimeEthereum.eth (@BitcoinJesusETH) July 21, 2026
In April, the IMF launched a report stating that agentic AI will reshape funds and requirements are already being developed.
“A rising set of trade actors, together with fee networks, know-how platforms comparable to Ethereum, and AI mannequin suppliers, are in a race to experiment with these capabilities,” it stated.
Crypto commentator Leo Lanza stated on Tuesday that “everybody sees Ethereum as a tokenization wager,” including:
“Nearly no person sees it as an AI wager. However AI brokers will want monetary rails to carry belongings, settle funds, and transact with one another.”
ETH Worth Nudges Increased
Ethereum costs hit a seven-week excessive of $1,945 on Tuesday, and it has largely held on to these features into early buying and selling on Wednesday.
The asset was altering palms for $1,930 on the time of writing, up 27% since its cycle low on June 26 and nudging ever nearer to the psychological $2,000 barrier
The submit Franklin Templeton Exec Calls Agentic AI Crypto’s ‘Killer Use Case’ as ETH Nears $2K appeared first on CryptoPotato.