Author: Evan Lu, Waterdrip Capital; LEO, AISA

Introduction

Over the past century, the basic unit of economic activity has always been humans. Whether it is production, trade, payment, or financial services, they revolve around human needs. However, the rise of AI technology is reshaping this landscape, allowing machines to gradually evolve from passive tools into 'active economic agents'—AI Agents.

In addition, on the occasion of the 2025 Chinese New Year; Tether announced the integration of USDT into the BTC ecosystem, covering its base layer and Lightning Network. Behind various trends, a revolution is quietly brewing: AI Agent-driven payment infrastructure is pushing the cryptocurrency industry into a new wave of innovation. From the consensus layer of BTC to the execution layer of smart contracts, and now to the AI-driven application layer, the cryptocurrency industry is likely to usher in a paradigm of innovation in AI + Pay Fi + BTC Infra, driving Web2 towards self-renewal of Web3 - the future of mass adoption is gradually becoming a reality.

1. Stablecoin: The cornerstone of the new era of global payments - the ten-year evolution from cross-border revolution to mainstream currency

The programmability, cross-border utility, and increasingly clear regulatory framework of stablecoins are expected to become the standard settlement currency for global payments. With the election of the crypto-friendly Trump as the current President of the United States, the US government will gradually provide clarity on the regulation of cryptocurrencies. The application scenarios of stablecoins will gradually expand, and we can even envision a bright future for stablecoin payments in the next 10 years: (

Short-term (1-3 years): Stablecoins will dominate cross-border remittances, providing a faster and cheaper alternative to SWIFT. Debit/credit cards related to cryptocurrencies (such as Visa/MasterCard) will simplify consumption, bridging the gap between on-chain wealth and real-world transactions.

Mid-term (3-7 years): Enterprises will increasingly adopt stablecoin payments due to the low cost, instant settlement, and programmability of stablecoins. Companies will be able to seamlessly convert between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, providing customers with dual-track payment options.

Long-term (7 years and above): Stablecoins will become the mainstream legal currency, widely accepted for payment and even tax payment, completely subverting traditional financial infrastructure.

Apart from the convenience of payment, stablecoins still play a quite positive role in other areas: for example, they provide a more accessible platform for entrepreneurs to develop new payment products: no middlemen, minimum balance, or proprietary SDK. In addition, rough estimates suggest that if medium and large enterprises can use stablecoin solutions in transactions, enterprise profits could increase by 2%. Furthermore, countries like Russia, which are under U.S. sanctions, have tried using stablecoins for trade between nations to bypass the USD settlement system. More and more cases indicate that stablecoins are gradually approaching the best position in their market fit. This is not surprising - they are undoubtedly the most cost-effective way to settle in USD and the fastest global payment method.

2.Next Level: AI Agents will be the new user experience layer for future apps

Today, we are no longer relying solely on AI to perform single tasks such as image recognition, speech synthesis, or autonomous driving. Instead, we are entering an era where 'AI Agents become independent market participants.' This shift extends beyond AI-driven financial transactions and intelligent supply chain management to include generative AI (AIGC) serving content creators, developers, and businesses. Furthermore, AI agents can even 'autonomously negotiate, trade, settle, and optimize their own resource utilization.'

Just at the end of last year, we saw AI Agents redefine the application scenarios of DApps. The pioneer of this trend is @truth_terminal, an AI Agent that can promote its own token $Goat; followed closely by Luna and AIxbt, these AI Agents can autonomously trade tokens, generate content, and even manage their own crypto wallets and assets. This evolution of capabilities has spurred innovation in the narrative of the crypto space, such as Virtual Protocol - a protocol similar to Pump.fun, but the 'Pump' is no longer just tokens, but a variety of AI Agents.

The evolving capabilities of AI Agents, combined with the plug-and-play issuance platform, have opened up a market opportunity worth hundreds of billions for the concept of AI Agent + Crypto. AI is becoming an active participant in the on-chain ecosystem, driving blockchain applications from being tool-based to ecosystem-based.

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Top 10 AI Agent Market Capitalization on Virtual Protocol as of February 11, 2025, data source:

In the future, AI will become the user experience layer of blockchain technology, connecting the application layer and the underlying blockchain infrastructure, playing a role both upwards and downwards in the technology stack. To give the best example for crypto users to understand, AI can actively recommend and execute on-chain DeFi operations based on users' intentions and preferences (such as security, yield, etc.), combined with real-time market predictions. Users do not need to understand the differences between L1 and L2, or even the working principles of cross-chain bridges. Expanding to daily life, imagine a scenario: a personal AI financial assistant can autonomously manage your taxes, insurance, rental income and expenses, dynamically optimize your investment portfolio, and even automatically execute trades based on market changes. Of course, while granting economic autonomy to AI, security issues cannot be ignored. Therefore, Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) becomes its critical infrastructure - it ensures that the behavior of the AI Agent fully complies with the preset logic and is not subject to external control by isolating the computing environment. For example, an AI Agent running in TEE can both attract users and earn income by generating content, and safeguard the absolute control of its asset keys through encryption technology. Furthermore, AI can operate Depin nodes or validate data, becoming the core executor of its distributed system.

The workflows and application scenarios of these AI Agents are outlining a brand new 'machine economy' landscape: from game players to Depin managers, from content creators to financial strategists, AI Agents will become the core driving force of the on-chain ecosystem.

3. The dilemma of the existing payment system: the intangible shackles of the AI economy

In the future, AI Agent will partially replace humans, become independent participants in the market, and form an important force. However, the revolution of the machine economy is not without challenges. One of the most core issues is "payment". The realization of the AI revolution relies on an efficient, secure, and decentralized payment network built with blockchain technology to provide seamless economic interaction capabilities for AI Agents.

3.1 Economic Imbalance of Micro-Payments

Imagine this scenario: an AI agent is running a high-frequency trading strategy that requires completing 1000 transactions per second, with each transaction amounting to only 0.0001 US dollars. If using traditional payment networks (such as Visa, PayPal), each transaction would require a minimum fee of 0.30 US dollars, which means that the AI agent would have to pay 3000 times the fee for every 0.0001 US dollar transaction. This absurd cost structure directly leads to the inability of the AI economy to operate on existing payment systems.

3.2 Fatal Flaw in Settlement Speed

For AI agents, trading is not a sporadic event, but a continuous flow process. However, the settlement method of traditional payment networks is extremely backward:

• Credit card payment: It usually takes 1-3 days to complete the settlement.

· SWIFT international transfer: may take 2-5 days.

· Cryptocurrency payments (such as Bitcoin main chain transactions): typically take an average of 10 minutes or even longer.

The AI economy requires settlement in milliseconds, but the existing payment system is clearly unable to meet this need.

3.3 Limitations of Centralized Architecture

AI agents are essentially global, not constrained by geographic boundaries. However, traditional payment systems are mired in issues such as bank accounts, fiat currency compliance, regional payment rules, etc.

• Bank account dependence: Most payment systems (such as Visa, PayPal) require transacting parties to have a bank account, while AI agents cannot open bank accounts like humans do.

· Centralized Control: Existing payment systems rely on a few financial institutions for approval, and transactions mediated by AI agents may be rejected at any time due to regulatory or compliance issues.

· International Payment Barrier: AI agent cross-border transactions will encounter cumbersome compliance requirements, increasing operational costs and complexity.

If the AI economy must rely on the existing payment system, it will be bound by artificially set limits and unable to truly unleash its potential.

3.4 Five Core Requirements of the AI Economic Payment System

Considering the possible operation characteristics and usage scenarios of the above AI Agent, the payment system for AI services in the future must have the following five core capabilities:

· Micro-payment capability: AI-agents transactions often involve very small amounts (such as $0.0001 level), must ensure very low fees, even close to zero.

· Millisecond-level transaction settlement: AI transactions occur on a sub-second time scale, and the payment system must be able to **settle in real time**, rather than waiting for minutes or even days.

· Decentralization and Anti-censorship: AI agents need to trade independently and cannot rely on centralized financial institutions.

· Global Availability: AI agents are not limited by national borders, and the payment system must support cross-border transactions to avoid reliance on bank accounts.

· Intelligent Payment Protocol: The payment system must be able to seamlessly interact with AI agents, support automatic settlement, intelligent transaction routing, liquidity optimization, and other functions.

4. The Hope and Limitation of Blockchain Payment

In the past few years, the rise of blockchain technology has brought a glimmer of hope to the AI economy. The decentralization, smart contracts, and permissionless transactions of blockchain make it an alternative to traditional payment systems. However, mainstream blockchain still faces the following problems:

4.1 High Cost of ETH Network Payment

ETH (Ethereum) is the most important infrastructure for DeFi (decentralized finance), but its high transaction costs make it difficult for the AI economy to adopt. During network congestion, a simple USDT transaction may require $10-$50 in Gas fees, with limited transaction throughput, slow processing speeds, and difficult support for the high-frequency trading needs of AI agents.

4.2 The speed and centralization issues of other high-performance public chains

The current cryptocurrency ecosystem has seen a large number of high-performance public chains emerge, which do provide faster transaction processing capabilities, but they often have a high degree of centralization, posing security risks. In recent years, some high-performance public chains have experienced multiple downtime situations, affecting transaction stability. Additionally, most public chains rely on only a few validation nodes, which could greatly affect the decentralization of the payment system.

4.3 BTC mainnet scalability bottleneck

As the most secure and decentralized blockchain globally, BTC has unparalleled security, but limited payment capabilities. The transaction throughput of the BTC main network is extremely low (only 7 transactions per second), and when faced with large transaction volume requests, the gas fees skyrocket, resulting in significant fluctuations in transaction costs, making it unsuitable for small payments by AI agents.

Therefore, although blockchain technology provides a possible solution, the existing public chain alone cannot fully meet the payment needs of the AI economy.

4.4 Lightning Network - A New Stage for Stablecoin Payments

As the first layer 2 scaling solution for BTC, the Lightning Network relies not only on the security of the BTC network (with 57000+ nodes and PoW mechanism), but also achieves instant, low-cost, and infinitely scalable transaction capabilities through bi-directional payment channels. This technological path is highly suitable for micro, high-frequency payment scenarios, and also aligns with the ideals of purist crypto enthusiasts - all transactions are based on the BTC network. Currently, the Lightning Network has over 15000 nodes and 50000 channels, demonstrating strong ecological potential.

However, the Lightning Network is not without flaws. Before the appearance of the Taproot Assets protocol, the Lightning Network only supported BTC as a payment currency, with extremely limited application scenarios. Today, as BTC has become the "digital gold," most people are not willing to easily spend the BTC they hold. At this time, the importance of stablecoins is self-evident: throughout history, only currencies with stable value can be widely accepted and used in daily payment scenarios. For the technical principles of the Lightning Network and the TA protocol, please refer to this article: Taproot Assets: The next growth point beyond the trillion-dollar market value in the stablecoin race.

Undoubtedly, USDT issued by Tether is still the dominant stablecoin in the crypto world. As of today, the total circulation of USDC is 56.3 billion US dollars, while the total circulation of USDT is over 140 billion US dollars, more than twice that of the second largest circulation USDC. Tether's integration of USDT into the Lightning Network is of great significance. This move signifies a kind of recognition in the eyes of users - after all, USDT is a real asset, and its minting signifies Tether's recognition of the security and usability of the public chain. More importantly, the real on-chain users and transaction fee income brought by USDT are also the resources that various public chains dream of. This also signifies that, after many years of construction, the era has come for the Lightning Network to truly show its potential.

5. Everything is ready, only waiting for the east wind to come

The explosive growth of AI agents is driving the trillion-dollar machine economy landscape, but it is clear that traditional payment networks (high cost, low speed) and existing blockchain solutions are unable to support its needs. It seems that the integration of USDT into the Lightning Network has provided a key piece of the puzzle for the industry - nearly zero-cost, censorship-resistant payment channels, combined with the liquidity of stablecoins, perfectly tailored to AI agents for micro-payments and real-time transaction scenarios.

Therefore, AISA emerged as a result. It is not just a simple overlay of technology stack, but a "financial operating system" tailored for the AI economy, allowing the AI economy to truly break free from the shackles of payments and move towards autonomous interaction in the future. In the future AI economy, there is no need to wait—payment means efficiency, and transactions mean intelligence.

6.AISA: The Ultimate Fusion of Lightning Network, Stablecoins, and AI Agent - Refactoring the AI Economic Payment Base

6.1 Four-layer Technical Architecture of AISA

AIsa's architecture can be divided into four core levels, which work together to enable AI agents to conduct payments freely and efficiently.

a. Settlement Layer

Based on the underlying network: BTC network (L1) + Lightning Network (L2). The core advantage of its settlement layer lies in:

Security: Based on Bitcoin's PoW mechanism and decentralized network (global 57000+ nodes).

Efficiency: millisecond-level transaction confirmation, fees approaching zero, completely solving the pain points of AI high-frequency micro-payments

b. Payment Layer

Multi-chain support: compatible with Ethereum, Solana, Polygon and other public chains, AI agents can freely choose the optimal chain.

Stablecoin integration: aiUSD (native stablecoin issued by AISA) and USDT, USDC circulate on the Lightning Network as payment currencies through the Taproot Assets protocol.

c. Intelligent Payment Layer (Programmable Layer)

AI native protocol (AIP): Empowers AI agents with autonomous decision-making abilities.

Dynamic routing: Real-time analysis of transaction fees, network congestion, automatically switching payment paths (e.g., Lightning Network → Solana).

Automated Micro-Payments: On-demand settlement (e.g. $0.0001 per API call), without human intervention.

Liquidity management: AI agents can dynamically allocate funds to liquidity pools to optimize payment efficiency.

d. Governance Layer

DAO mechanism: governed jointly by token LPT holders, determining protocol upgrades, fee distribution, etc.

Incentive mechanism: Liquidity providers pledge LPT to obtain income (transaction fee sharing). Part of the transaction fees is used for token burning, promoting a deflationary model.

6.2 How does AISA redefine the AI economic payment?

AISA is not a simple extension of traditional blockchain payments, but a revolutionary infrastructure designed for the AI economy. By integrating the decentralized efficiency of the Bitcoin Lightning Network, the liquidity guarantee of stable coins, and the smart decision-making ability of AI-native protocols, AISA has built a nearly zero-cost, millisecond-response payment network, thoroughly breaking through the high cost and low efficiency bottlenecks of traditional systems. Here, AI agents can independently complete micro-payments (such as $0.0001 per API call), settle DePIN node contribution rewards in real time, and even dynamically optimize cross-chain transaction paths without human intervention.

From cross-border corporate payments (instead of SWIFT to save costs) to high-frequency trading of automated financial strategies, AISA's adaptability is driving the rise of the machine economy—In the future, AI agents may autonomously manage taxation and investment, forming an independent economic closed loop. Through multi-chain compatibility and DAO governance, AISA not only solves the fragmentation problem of the existing payment ecosystem, but also sets a new standard for human-machine collaboration in the decentralized era in the form of a "financial operating system". When stablecoins become the mainstream settlement tool and the Lightning Network connects global value flows, AISA's vision is to let the machine economy grow freely in a frictionless intelligent network.

7. Conclusion

When AI agents autonomously complete transactions, investments, and even taxation on the chain, payment is no longer a tool but the circulatory system of the machine economy. The Lightning Network provides the veins, stablecoins act as the blood, and AI agents become the heart - this silent revolution, like lightning, illuminates the future payment ecosystem. Future payments do not belong to a particular institution or country, but to every autonomous AI and participating node. Here, code is law, efficiency is justice, and true innovation is just beginning.

8. Reference materials

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