While the market is still discussing bull and bear cycles, ETF fund flows, and short-term trends, a discussion about the future of AI and Crypto for the next decade is unfolding.

Recently, Han Feng, an independent researcher at Harvard University, a correspondent academician of the American Academy of Artificial Intelligence (NAAI), and a lifetime member of the Bitcoin Foundation, appeared on Huobi HTX's "Guest Lecture Hall" episode three, themed "From H2A to A2A," sharing insights on the development paths of the agent economy, Bitcoin, stablecoins, and the future of the digital society.

In Han Feng's view, the current crypto industry is at an important stage of transitioning between old and new narratives. Although the market experiences ongoing short-term fluctuations, the long-term value of the industry is determined not by price movements, but by the deep integration of technology and industry. He points out that the combination of AI and Web3 will give rise to a whole new economic system, and the agent economy is likely to become the largest application scenario for cryptocurrencies in the future.

From H2A to A2A: A "frictionless" new economic entity is taking shape

Over the past decade, PC internet connected "people to people," and mobile internet connected "people to servers." Now, with the leap of artificial intelligence technology, a new phase of autonomous collaboration, decision-making, and task execution by agents is upon us.

Han Feng believes that in this process, economic activities will gradually evolve from Human to Agent (H2A) to Agent to Agent (A2A). When a large number of AI agents can independently complete transactions, collaborate, allocate resources, and exchange value, a new digital economy will accelerate its formation.

"In the future, the agent economy will definitely surpass the human economy." Han Feng argues that compared to traditional economic systems, the agent economy has higher transparency, lower collaboration costs, and stronger execution efficiency, essentially approaching a "frictionless" economic form. Just like the transparent society depicted by Liu Cixin in "The Three-Body Problem," there is no fraud or concealment.

AI Agent will become the largest real landing scenario for Crypto

When discussing the future direction of the crypto industry, Han Feng believes that AI Agent will become the largest landing scenario for Crypto.

For years, the Crypto industry has explored paths in payment, DeFi, asset issuance, etc., but has always faced the pain point of "lack of sufficiently broad real application scenarios." The emergence of AI Agents is tearing open an unprecedented demand gap for the crypto network. Han Feng predicts that with the exponential growth of agents, the demand for micropayments, identity verification, trusted computing, on-chain settlement, and resource allocation will skyrocket, which are exactly the core advantages of blockchain and crypto technology.

"Web3 will eventually deeply integrate with AI, which is the biggest opportunity for the industry's future." Han Feng states that only when crypto infrastructure truly serves the collaboration and transactions among massive agents can Crypto welcome large-scale landing in the true sense.

In the live broadcast, Han Feng also focused on sharing his research results in recent years regarding the integration of stablecoins and the agent economy.

He pointed out that the efficient operation of the agent economy relies on a stable, transparent, and globally circulating value medium, and stablecoins based on cryptographic consensus perfectly fit this role. Compared to traditional financial systems, stablecoins can achieve around-the-clock settlement, global circulation, and programmatic execution, making them more suitable for high-frequency, small-scale, and automated value exchanges among future agents.

From market cycles to industry cycles: Crypto is welcoming a new growth logic

As an industry OG who entered the field back in 2013, Han Feng shared profound insights on the long-term value of Crypto based on his investment and research experiences.

He lamented that every round of bull and bear cycles in the crypto industry inevitably accompanies a dual upgrade of technological innovation and market perception. From the birth of Bitcoin to the flourishing of Ethereum smart contracts, from the explosion of DeFi to the current emergence of the AI Agent economy, Crypto has constantly sought broader application boundaries through self-iteration.

Now, an increasing number of traditional financial institutions are accelerating their embrace of digital assets, and the boundaries of the industry are being continually broken. Han Feng believes that practitioners and investors should look beyond short-term market fluctuations and focus on the structural and systematic opportunities brought by the integration of AI and Web3.

In the next decade, the largest growth engine for the crypto industry will no longer be merely financial speculation and bubble trading, but the vast real demand created by the explosion of the agent economy. When AI Agents become new economic entities, Crypto will surely elevate to become the infrastructure supporting a new digital civilization, ushering in its "Age of Discovery."

As a key knowledge-sharing column developed by Huobi Growth Academy, Huobi Guest Lecture Hall will continue to invite top scholars, industry leaders, and seasoned practitioners globally to engage in in-depth exchanges on fields such as crypto assets, artificial intelligence, Web3, and cutting-edge technologies, helping users establish a systematic cognitive framework and gain insights into the underlying logic of technological and industrial development.