Digital Social Hour – Episode Summary

Podcast: Digital Social Hour
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Jonathan King, Principal at Coinbase Ventures
Episode: “This Is How Crypto Actually Becomes Useful” | DSH #1725
Date: December 31, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Sean Kelly sits down with Jonathan King from Coinbase Ventures during the AI4 conference to explore how crypto is evolving from a speculative asset into a pillar of utility-driven digital infrastructure. The conversation focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence and blockchain, the future of programmable money, real-world crypto use cases, and exciting trends in the on-chain startup ecosystem.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Intersection of AI and Crypto

• Crypto x AI Thesis:
  Jonathan explains Coinbase Ventures’ conviction that the combination of crypto’s open, programmable infrastructure with AI's intelligence and automation will reshape digital commerce:

  "When you combine crypto's programmable and open infrastructure with AI's intelligence and automation, you can unlock massive new use cases and really transform the way humans as well as agents transact within the digital economy." (A, 00:00 & 03:04)

• Agentic Commerce:
  The rise of 'agentic commerce' is discussed, described as autonomous AI agents transacting on blockchain for payment, content, and service fulfillment:

  “These are autonomous software entities programmed with objectives. They need programmable dollars to pay for services, content, and accomplish tasks.” (A, 01:23)

• AI Augmenting Human Workflows:
  AI agents, rather than replacing people, are positioned as tools to reduce cognitive load and improve productivity, operating 24/7, especially useful in always-on crypto markets:

  “These agents are always on. They're scanning the market, looking for opportunities. Humans need to sleep. You could entrust agents to transact on your behalf, with guardrails.” (A, 02:35)

2. Crypto Use Cases & Mainstream Utility

• Utility Beyond Speculation:
  The third crypto bull run (“the fun one”) marked a shift from speculation to real utility.

  “We’re moving beyond being a purely speculative asset, actually building utility-driven, Internet-native infrastructure.” (A, 04:27)

• Buying Real Things with Crypto:
  Crypto is now useful for real world transactions:

  “These days you could buy almost anything with crypto… I bought my house with crypto. People buy watches, people buy cars.” (B, 04:49)
  “With stablecoins and digital dollars, you can exchange value anywhere around the world for less than one second, less than one cent.” (A, 04:55)

3. Coinbase Ventures’ 2025 Investment Strategy

Jonathan outlines four key areas of focus:

1. Stablecoins & Payments:

   • Making money programmable, broadening participation in the on-chain economy.

2. Decentralization of Financial Stack:

   • Removing intermediaries, enabling features like posting Bitcoin as collateral to borrow USDC—no banks, no paperwork.

3. Consumer & Social Applications:

   • Giving creators and users ownership and financial incentive for content and engagement.

4. Crypto + AI Enablement:

   • Democratizing access to compute/data/models; enabling agentic commerce and AI-driven transaction flows.

“We’ve been focusing on… stablecoins and payments, decentralizing the financial stack, new social applications, and this intersection of crypto and AI.” (A, 05:17)

4. What Coinbase Ventures Looks for in Founders

• Blend of Skills:
  • Technical depth, vision clarity, actual problem-solving, and an unreplicable go-to-market strategy.

  “Founders that can effectively blend technical depth with clarity of vision… not just building a solution in search of a problem.” (A, 07:28)

• Team Composition:
  • Preferably a mix of crypto-native and AI-native expertise for relevant sectors.

5. Real-World Examples, Trends, and Startups

Startups Cited:

• Vana Network:
  Allows users to upload private data for model training and receive incentives.
• Open Gradient:
  Open model hub offering thousands of composable, verifiable, open-source AI models.
• Elsa & Giza:
  AI agents within the Base app that can transact on your behalf for anything from ordering pizza to DCA (dollar-cost averaging) strategies.

“Inside the Base app you can transact with AI agents—to order pizza using stablecoins or buy tokens and create your DCA strategy.” (A, 13:08)

Agentic Commerce Example:

• AI agents proactively handle tasks and purchases, like planning travel or shopping:

  “Agents can anticipate your needs… ‘Hey, I’m going out to this AI4 afterparty tonight and need something to wear. Can you order me something?’” (A, 14:04)

6. Memorable Quotes

• On Crypto’s Open Model:

  “We’re creating a new economy that is open and permissionless for anyone to participate in.” (A, 11:41)

• On Investing Through Adversity:

  “I held throughout this whole bear market… I rode Ethereum all the way down to like $800.” (B, 11:18)

• On Crypto’s Practicality:

  “Layer by layer, we’re updating the financial system using crypto and blockchain infrastructure.” (A, 04:55)

Notable Moments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | Notable Quote/Summary | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Crypto & AI Thesis | See quote above | | 01:22 | AI Agents on Blockchain | “There are autonomous software entities…” | | 02:28 | AI Reducing Cognitive Load | “AI agents being used to reduce the cognitive load…” | | 04:49 | Crypto Used to Buy Assets | “I bought my house with crypto…” | | 05:17 | Four Pillars of Coinbase Ventures’ 2025 Strategy | List of focus areas | | 07:28 | What Makes a Great Founder | “Blend technical depth with clarity of vision…” | | 10:06 | Coinbase Credit Card Incentives | “Up to 4% for your spend. And you know, you can earn Bitcoin.” (A, 10:10) | | 13:08 | Base App and In-App AI Agents | “You can transact with AI agents… order pizza… DCA.” | | 14:04 | Agentic Commerce Examples | “Agents can anticipate your needs…” | | 15:24 | Real-life AI Planning | “LLM created my entire itinerary for France.” | | 11:41 | Crypto as a New Permissionless Economy | “We’re creating a new economy that is open…” |

Tone and Atmosphere

The episode maintains an upbeat, forward-thinking tone throughout. Both Sean and Jonathan are enthusiastic, sharing personal anecdotes about crypto’s explosiveness and resilience, often expressing excitement about the practicality and ongoing advancements in decentralized finance, programmable money, and the AI-agent-driven future.

Conclusion

This conversation offers a firsthand look at how crypto is stepping beyond its speculative roots into everyday, highly integrated use cases powered by AI—and provides a practical, optimistic forecast for on-chain economies and digital commerce. Jonathan King’s insights provide clarity into what the next wave of blockchain adoption could look like, and what Coinbase Ventures is betting on to usher in that future.