AI Agents Are the Web3 Users We’ve Been Waiting For
Web3 has often been perceived as a technological paradigm designed for human users to reclaim control within their digital interactions. However, an emerging narrative is reshaping this view, portraying Web3 not merely as a decentralized alternative to Web2 but as a sophisticated ecosystem built primarily for machines. The concept of the "Post Web"—coined by Outlier Ventures—highlights the transition towards a machine-driven Internet, where AI agents act as autonomous economic actors.
Despite significant advancements in decentralized technologies, the adoption of Web3 remains disappointingly low. While approximately 10% of the global population holds cryptocurrencies, only a small fraction actively engages in decentralized applications (dApps) as a robust alternative to centralized platforms. This gap cannot be attributed to a lack of functionality within Web3 technologies but instead points to usability hurdles and the inherent complexity that has hindered more widespread engagement.
Historically, the design of Web3 was never aimed at large-scale human interaction; it was built with automated processes in mind. The rise of AI agents is starting to illuminate the underutilized potential of Web3 functionalities. These agents are designed to navigate and interact with decentralized networks with far greater efficiency than their human counterparts. By optimizing the infrastructure for machine-driven activities, the Post Web aims to unleash the true capabilities of decentralized technologies.
The Evolution of the Tech Stack
The Post Web presents a fundamental rethinking of the Web3 technology stack, emphasizing two vital transformations required for seamless AI integration:
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Optimizing the Existing Web3 Stack for AI Agents: This involves upgrading decentralized infrastructure to facilitate machine-driven intent execution and coordination.
- Developing a New Agentic Layer: This additional layer will serve the purpose of managing AI agents, enabling them to handle economic and social activities autonomously on behalf of users.
The envisioned tech stack consists of three essential layers that together create an internet optimized for machine interaction:
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The Agentic Layer: AI as the New Interface
In this new paradigm, users won’t need to engage directly with cryptocurrencies, wallets, or dApps; AI agents will manage these processes. Acting as personalized digital intermediaries, these agents will execute transactions, manage assets, and make complex economic decisions based on the users’ high-level goals. This transformation will shift smart wallets into sovereign identity hubs, reducing reliance on centralized platforms and granting users complete control over their digital lives. -
The Trust Layer: Smart Contracts & DLT as the Backbone
AI agents will require verifiable environments where transactions can be performed without ambiguity. Here, blockchain technology and smart contracts become essential, providing immutable and self-executing agreements that afford economic activity transparency and security. This trust layer ensures that autonomous transactions are reliable and resistant to manipulation or central control. - The Infrastructure Layer: Compute, Data & DePIN
Finally, AI agents are in need of significant computational resources. This is where Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) enter the picture, providing distributed computing, storage, and data access. By eliminating reliance on centralized cloud providers, DePIN allows AI agents to function autonomously and affordably, ensuring they operate without intermediaries.
The Internet of Tomorrow
The transition into the Post Web signifies a radical transformation in how digital services function. The traditional structures, deeply embedded with human interfaces and centralized control, are giving way to an ecosystem where AI-driven agents dominate. This evolution hints at the disappearance of the Web as we know it, paving the way for an autonomous, machine-led internet.
Startups and developers must now adapt to this shifting landscape by crafting products and services that are agent-friendly and optimized for machine interaction. The future of Web3 doesn’t merely lie in improving current infrastructure but in reimagining it to serve a new generation of users—one driven not by individual human agents but by intelligent machines empowered to navigate the complexities of the decentralized web.
