The 2026 Web3 Financial Revolution: The Era of AI Agent-Driven Automated Payments is Coming

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Automated Asset Management on Blockchain in the Age of AI Agents: The Moment Money Moves ‘By Itself’

By 2026, the reality of AI agents independently managing assets and making automatic payments is at our doorstep. But how will this shift transform our financial lives beyond merely “faster payments”? The key lies in the fusion of AI decision-making with the trust infrastructure of Blockchain, shifting the focus from “human-clicked and approved finance” to “rule-based executed finance.”

Why AI Agent Payments Are Possible on Blockchain

For AI agents to handle money, two things are essential: (1) executable rules and (2) a tamper-resistant transaction environment—and this is where Blockchain shines.

• Smart Contracts: Fix “who, when, and how much to pay under what conditions” into code.
  For example, distributing contracts for rules like “Automatically convert to USDC and pay subscription fees when exchange rates fall within a specific range” or “Spend advertising budget only within preset limits.”
• Verifiable Ledger: Transaction records are transparently kept, enabling easy post-audit. It becomes possible to trace why and under which rules AI-triggered payments occurred.
• Programmable Money: Money itself moves based on conditions. Payments transform from one-off events into policy-driven automatic executions.

In short, AI handles “judgment and optimization,” while Blockchain ensures “settlement and trust,” making automatic payments a reality.

Where AI Agents Truly Change ‘Asset Management’

AI managing assets doesn’t just mean checking balances. It means automating the entire process from budgeting → execution → rebalancing → recording/documentation.

• Personal Finance: Automatically pay fixed monthly bills (communication, subscriptions, insurance), while optimizing by switching to cheaper plans or cancelling unnecessary subscriptions if usage declines.
• Freelancers/Small Business Owners: Automatically split incoming revenue into taxes, payroll, and costs; predict cash flow to adjust payment timing.
• Corporate Operations: Conditional execution of purchasing, settlement, and supply chain expenses. For example, payments are automatically triggered once delivery is confirmed (or verified via an oracle).

Here, human roles shift from “approving every transaction” to designing rules and setting limits as overseers.

The Technical Core of Automated Payments: “Agent Wallet + Policy Engine + Smart Contract”

To move assets, an AI agent typically requires this structure:

1. Agent Wallet
   An on-chain address (or account) used by the agent, acting as the payment executor.
2. Policy Engine
   Manages machine-readable rules like “daily spending limits, approved recipients, allowed tokens, time restrictions, risk score thresholds.”
3. Smart Contract/Payment Rail
   Records blockchain transactions in line with policies and finalizes payments.

When combined with real-world data via Oracles and security measures such as Session Keys / Multi-signatures that granularly control permissions, risks of “AI spending money at will” are greatly reduced while keeping automation benefits intact.

Questions We Must Prepare For: Control Is More Important Than Convenience

AI-powered automated payments offer convenience, but in finance, control and accountability remain paramount. Moving forward, the critical question won’t be “Can AI make payments?” but rather, How safely can it be controlled?

• How will spending limits and authorizations be designed? (Budget caps, recipient whitelists, blocking risky transactions)
• How will errors or fraud be reversed? (Dispute resolution, added approval steps, handling irreversible environments)
• Who takes responsibility? (Users, service providers, model creators, wallet/protocol operators)

Ultimately, the era of AI agents spending money becomes not only a race in automation but also a competition to establish the most trustworthy Blockchain-based governance and security model first.

The Step-by-Step Evolution of Web3 Finance Through Blockchain: From Blockchain to AI

From remittances to on-chain assetization, Web3 finance is evolving in four distinct stages. Understanding this flow clarifies why financial infrastructure is being rebuilt right now. The key point is that Blockchain is transforming not only how money moves (payments) but also how assets exist (ownership, settlement, rights), and ultimately, AI emerges as the executing agent on top of this foundation.

Blockchain Stage 1: Remittance Innovation Centered on Stablecoins

The first step in Web3 finance starts with remittances. Stablecoins are designed to be pegged to fiat currency values, reducing the volatility issues of cryptocurrencies while retaining blockchain’s advantages—24/7 payments, fast settlement, and low fees.

• Instant settlement: Payments process faster by bypassing bank hours, intermediary banks, and inter-country networks.
• Cross-border efficiency: Reduced multi-layered intermediaries can significantly lower fees and currency exchange costs.
• “Digital dollar” as infrastructure: In practice, dollar-pegged stablecoins are becoming the de facto global payment standard, prompting countries to reconsider their monetary sovereignty and industrial competitiveness.

At this stage, blockchain functions less as an “investment asset” and more as a rail for international remittances and settlements.

Blockchain Stage 2: On-Chain Integration of Payment Infrastructure (Combining with Card Networks)

Stage two is about merging existing payment networks with blockchain payments. Users still interact through cards or familiar payment interfaces, but blockchain-based settlements partly underpin the process, altering cost structures and transaction methods.

Technically important aspects include:

• Hybrid on-chain/off-chain settlements: Users experience near-instant payments, while actual settlement processes occur as blockchain transactions.
• Reconfigured settlement risk: Payment and settlement processes become more transparent, and settlement rules can be enforced via smart contracts coded into the system.
• Economies of scale: Payment infrastructure operators leverage their existing merchant and user networks to absorb Web3 not as a “new button” but as an “upgrade” to their current systems.

Although these changes are significant internally, users may simply notice “payments became easier.” The critical insight is that the internal structure of financial infrastructure begins to transform.

Blockchain Stage 3: On-Chain Assetization (Tokenization) Redefining Ownership and Trading

In the third stage, Web3 finance advances beyond payments: assets themselves move on-chain. When traditional assets like stocks, funds, or real estate are issued and traded as tokens, not just “trading” changes, but the way ownership records and transfers are handled fundamentally shifts.

Key technical innovations enabled by on-chain assetization include:

• Atomic settlement: Combining asset transfer and payment into a single transaction (or linked conditions) structurally reduces settlement failure risks.
• Programmable assets: Rules like dividends, voting rights, lock-ups, and fee distributions can be embedded in smart contracts, reducing operational and settlement costs.
• Expanded accessibility: Fractional ownership, 24/7 trading, and global distribution become possible, lowering time and border barriers of traditional markets (though regulatory and licensing frameworks need to be concurrently updated).

In summary, stage three marks Blockchain’s redefinition from being merely a “path for money flow” to a new “mode of asset existence.”

Blockchain Stage 4: AI-Based Automated Payments—Automating ‘Decision’ and ‘Execution’

The final, most radical stage is when AI agents autonomously spend and manage money, with humans setting objectives and rules, and AI handling execution. Blockchain here provides AI with two crucial capabilities:

• A trustworthy execution environment: Smart contracts fix rules in code, preventing arbitrary changes, and record execution outcomes on-chain for verifiable transparency.
• An interface for autonomous payments: AI can automatically pay service fees, subscriptions, advertising costs, and cloud expenses based on programmed conditions.

Technically, this stage hinges on the combination of AI (decision-making) + smart contracts (execution) + on-chain assets (settlement/ownership). For example, budgets, risk thresholds, and approval conditions can be codified in contracts, with AI analyzing market data and usage to optimize payments and reallocations. When mature, this structure shifts the finance paradigm from “humans pushing buttons in apps” to “agents managing expenses according to contracts.”

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The four stages of Web3 finance form a continuous evolution—not disconnected trends—progressing from remittances → payment infrastructure → on-chain assets → AI-driven automatic execution. Ultimately, Blockchain is solidifying not just as a tech trend but as the execution layer of finance for the AI era.

‘Kiwi,’ a Homegrown Blockchain Based on Blockchain Technology, and Its Design Philosophy to Make Web3 “Easy”

Complex wallet addresses, unfamiliar signature flows, and constant security warnings. The barriers to entering Web3 often arise not from technology but from the user experience (UX). The Korean blockchain project ‘Kiwi’ targets exactly this. With the goal of making Web3 devices “as naturally usable as Web2,” it has designed a user-centered stack that seamlessly connects payment, asset management, authentication, and privacy in one. The secret behind Korea’s aim to capture the global market ultimately lies in the direction of “blockchain that is easy to use yet secure at a financial level.”

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‘up.id’ Changing Blockchain Usability: Web3 Transacting by ID Instead of Address

Kiwi’s up.id replaces the long wallet addresses (strings starting with 0x…) with human-readable and memorable ID forms. This shift is not just a simple convenience but a core mechanism that drastically reduces payment and transfer failure rates and explosively improves usability.

• Reducing Input Errors: Lowers risks of copy/paste mistakes and clipboard hijacking scams with similar-looking addresses
• Simplifying Payment Experience: Converges to Web2-like payment flows such as “Select ID → Enter Amount → Approve”
• Favorable for AI Agent Payments: A human-managed alias system is much more reliable when AI identifies transaction counterparts

Technically, ID-to-address mapping is needed, and the key lies in an approach that satisfies both “convenience” and “tamper-proof” simultaneously. In other words, leveraging blockchain’s immutability to make ownership of IDs and the latest linked addresses verifiable is central.

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‘Dojang’ Authentication Raising Blockchain Security to Financial Standards: Triple Defense of Wallet, Account, and Device

Kiwi’s ‘Dojang’ authentication system expands the existing Web3 security model—which relied solely on “having a wallet”—toward a structure approaching the trust level demanded by financial services. The core is multi-factor authentication that verifies the wallet, user account, and mobile device simultaneously.

• Wallet Authentication: Proving “this is my key” through owner signatures
• Account Authentication: User identification and permission management at the service level (expandable with KYC/policy integration)
• Device Authentication: Designed to allow sensitive actions (large payments, address changes, etc.) only from specific devices

This structure is vital because, in an era of AI-powered automated payments, emphasizing convenience alone can lead to major accidents. The Dojang model allows policies whereby high-risk operations require additional verification, even if automated payment/asset management logic is running. Consequently, it better aligns with internal controls demanded not only by individual users but also by corporations and institutions.

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Practical Solution to Blockchain Privacy ‘Bojagi’ Protocol: Transactions Revealing Only What Is Necessary

While blockchain’s transparency is its strength, in finance and payments this very transparency becomes a privacy risk. Kiwi’s ‘Bojagi’ protocol advocates selectively disclosing only the necessary information in transactions instead of exposing everything.

Technically, it focuses on solving issues such as:

• Preventing Excessive Information Exposure to Counterparties: Mitigates the problem of balances and past transaction histories being linked and traced
• Enhancing Usability for Corporations and Institutions: Enables verifying transaction conditions without revealing internal cost structures or customer data
• Regulation-Friendly Scalability: Emphasizing “minimum necessary disclosure” rather than anonymous transactions increases compatibility with compliance (audits and dispute resolutions)

In summary, Bojagi is less about “hiding” and more about a design that allows verification but prevents overexposure. To popularize Web3 finance, balancing transparency and privacy is essential, and this balance is the competitive edge.

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Kiwi’s Winning Move from a Blockchain Perspective: Binding UX, Security, and Privacy Into One

What makes Kiwi meaningful is not a single feature but the fact that it bundles usability (up.id) – security (Dojang) – privacy (Bojagi) together from a “payment infrastructure” perspective. Capturing the global market is not achievable by technical specs alone; ultimately, it boils down to the daily experience users have.

In an era where AI agents execute payments, people desire even simpler interfaces (UX), systems require stronger safeguards (security), and transactions demand more sophisticated data disclosure policies (privacy). With Kiwi’s design targeting all three pillars simultaneously, it could become the foothold for Korean-style blockchain to enter “real-world finance.”

Blockchain’s Challenge to Traditional Finance: The Evolution of Automation and Security

When financial giants like BlackRock step into DeFi and adopt automated revenue management systems, it’s not just an “experiment” — it’s a profound “transition.” Their moves signal that capital markets are ready to deploy Blockchain-based financial infrastructure in real-world operations. So, what exactly is this shift transforming?

How Blockchain Transforms Traditional Financial Automation: From “Product” to “Operation”

Traditional finance has long driven innovation through “product design,” crafting funds, ETFs, and derivatives. Yet, the essence of Blockchain adoption lies in the automation of operational processes themselves.

• On-chain clearing and automated settlement: When post-trade clearing and settlement processes are executed via smart contracts, intermediaries shrink and the risk of errors plummets.
• Automated revenue management (Autopilot-style): Predefined rules—such as risk limits, target returns, and liquidity conditions—trigger automatic rebalancing, fee optimization, and asset transfers.
• Dynamic fee and condition adjustments: Fees and trading conditions adapt in real-time based on volatility, pool liquidity, or trading volume metrics.

In short, the competition is shifting from creating “better products” to building “more efficient operational systems.”

Institutional-Grade Security Demands for Blockchain-Based DeFi: On-Chain KYC and Policy Enforcement

For institutions to embrace DeFi, two pillars stand out: compliance (KYC/AML) and a security model capable of incident response. The trend is moving away from “decentralization vs. regulation” clashes, focusing instead on enforcing policies through code.

• Institutional-level KYC support: Access to specific pools and strategies can be restricted to authorized users by integrating participant eligibility, jurisdictional rules, and sanction lists.
• Permission management and auditability: Multi-signature wallets, role-based access control (RBAC), and on-chain logs enable tracking who approved what and which policies were enforced.
• Automated risk controls: Smart contracts enforce deposit limits, collateral ratios, and forced liquidation triggers—ensuring not just that rules are followed, but that they cannot be broken.

This is where the appeal of Blockchain for traditional finance becomes crystal clear: it’s not just cost reduction, but enhanced certainty in policy enforcement.

Implications for the Blockchain Era: The Shifting Foundations of Trust

The fact that players like BlackRock are exploring and adopting DeFi and automated revenue management systems signals a future finance world where trust pivots from “institutional reputation” to code, proofs, and verifiable operations.

• Investors look beyond “who operates” to “which rules are enforced automatically.”
• Financial firms are evaluated by their prowess in automated risk management, settlement, and compliance, rather than product sales alone.
• Ultimately, DeFi is unlikely to replace traditional finance but stands poised to become the next-generation operational layer (infrastructure) adopted by traditional finance itself.

Blockchain Regulation and Korean Won Stablecoins: Obstacles and Hopes in the Era of Financial Automation

The reason why Korean finance is considered relatively behind in the global AI automated payment trend is less about technological shortcomings and more about the “infrastructure gap” caused by the regulatory environment and the absence of Korean won stablecoins. In an era where AI agents independently execute payments and manage assets, payment methods (stablecoins) and compliance frameworks (regulation and supervision) must work in harmony.

Ripple Effects of the ‘Absence of Korean Won Stablecoins’ from a Blockchain Perspective

AI agent payments are not just about “fast and cheap remittances,” but hinge on conditional, repetitive, and real-time settlements. Here, stablecoins serve not merely as coins but as the fundamental payment rail for automated finance.

• Mismatch of settlement currencies: The global market’s liquidity is already centered on dollar-based stablecoins. Without Korean won stablecoins, domestic users face increased reliance on currency exchange, bridges, and foreign exchanges, raising costs and risks during AI automated payments.
• Difficulty in enterprises’ on-chain payment experiments: Areas like subscription payments, game/content micro-payments, and IoT automatic payments often price in Korean won. Without Korean won stablecoins, accounting, taxation, and settlement become complicated, hindering domestic businesses from expanding Blockchain-based payment experiments.
• Complexity in designing AI agents’ ‘spending limits’: People budget in Korean won; for AI to comply with budgets, the base currency must be clear. If the payment rail centers on dollar stablecoins, exchange rate fluctuations become policy variables, complicating the design of agents’ spending rules.

Blockchain Regulation As a Barrier to Automated Payment Expansion: “Uncertainty” and “Accountability”

The core issue in regulation is not outright bans but uncertainty. Financial innovations won’t proliferate if accountability structures remain unresolved despite technological feasibility. AI agent payments especially raise tough questions:

• Legal status of agents: If AI-executed transactions lead to incidents, who bears responsibility—users, developers, platforms, or smart contract authors?
• Suitability of AML/KYC automation: When agents transact across multiple wallets and contracts, at what level should anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) be applied?
• Consumer protection mechanisms: Automated payments provide convenience, but malfunctions, phishing, or authority theft can cause damages to escalate ‘automatically.’ Protection tools such as approval limits, spending policies, and anomaly detection need to be established as regulations or standards.

As this uncertainty persists, companies remain at the “PoC (proof of concept) stage” instead of large-scale adoption, inevitably trailing behind once global standards solidify.

Blockchain-Based Solutions: The Synergy of “Korean Won Stablecoins + Regulatory Sandbox + Technical Standards”

The solution is not a silver bullet but the simultaneous creation of payment methods and regulatory frameworks.

1) Phased introduction of Korean won stablecoins (Model selection is key)

• Establish clear collateral structures (e.g., 100% cash/government bonds) and redemption rights, and standardize reserve disclosure and audit systems to build trust.
• Initially, start with institutional and corporate (B2B) restricted circulation rather than widespread general use to mitigate risk, then gradually expand to individual payments.

2) Enhancement of regulatory sandbox for AI automated payments

• Rather than treating “blockchain services” broadly, the sandbox should test agent payment scenarios such as subscriptions, recurring payments, limit-based spending, and conditional payments.
• Test criteria should focus less on technical performance and more on accountability, incident response, and user protection (limits, withdrawal, dispute resolution).

3) Technical standards: ‘Policy-based Wallets’ and permission management
To ensure AI agent payments are safe, the method must shift from “key custody” to permission segmentation and restriction. Examples include:

• Daily/monthly spending caps, recipient whitelists, time-of-day restrictions
• Payment permission limited to specific smart contracts
• Automatic suspension (kill switch) and additional authentication upon anomaly detection
  Such controls enable financial institutions and regulators to regard automated payments as a ‘manageable risk.’

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AI automated payments will only become a reality when payment currency (stablecoin) and trust mechanisms (regulation, standards, audits) develop hand in hand. The pressing challenge for Korea is not the speed of technology adoption but filling the institutional and infrastructural gaps that actually allow Blockchain finance to function in practice.