New protocols are poised to revolutionize B2B commerce, driving demand for innovative services and creating a new class of merchants. Developers are at the forefront, seeking new solutions that will reshape the landscape.
However, skepticism surrounds autonomous consumer agents. Noah Levine, a Partner at a16z, believes most agentic activities will remain within businesses, mirroring the current SaaS market. He argues that consumer decisions are heavily influenced by qualitative, experiential inputs, making true autonomy in personal transactions challenging for agents.
Levine also addressed the compatibility of card payments with stablecoins, stating the underlying technologies are fundamentally compatible. While card networks excel in risk scoring, blockchains offer instant settlement but lack risk assessment. This opens the door for experimentation on blockchains due to their open, permissionless nature. He noted that market sentiment often outpaces actual technological development in the crypto space.
Commercial and consumer agents, he clarified, function more as assistants with narrow guardrails rather than fully autonomous transactors. Understanding these limitations is key to grasping their roles in evolving commerce.