Arthur Hayes Says AI Agents Will Use ‘Computing Currency,’ Not Dollars, at EastPoint: Seoul 2026

Interview with Flop Labs CEO Arthur Hayes

AI agent payments network ‘Flop’

‘An AI-native currency that could replace the dollar’

Token launch planned with no presale or VC backing

‘An AI bust would be bullish for crypto’

‘South Korea is an ideal market for the AI agent economy’

“AI agents will end up using a currency that can be exchanged directly for computing resources, rather than dollars or Bitcoin.”

Arthur Hayes, chief executive officer of Flop Labs, told Bloomingbit in an interview on Aug. 26 that the rise of AI agents as economic actors will create demand for a new form of payment. He said an “agent economy,” in which AI agents assign work to one another and exchange payments without human involvement, will begin to take shape in earnest.

AI agents are already being used for coding, email management and information gathering. Hayes said transactions in which one agent asks another to perform a task and pays for it will increase quickly.

‘AI needs a currency directly exchangeable for computing’

Hayes said the currency used by AI agents must be tied directly to computing resources. The Korean won or the dollar works for humans buying food or housing, but computing power is the core resource AI agents need.

“There is currently no market that efficiently converts a unit of currency into a set amount of floating-point operations over a given period,” he said. “The currency that does this most efficiently in the spot market will become the money of the agent economy.”

He said existing stablecoins and Bitcoin also have limits as money for AI agents. They are not directly linked to computing resources and were designed around humans and governments.

“AI agents don’t have lawyers or physical bodies,” Hayes said. “They are more likely to choose a decentralized currency than fiat money built for the human economy.”

The recently unveiled FLOP Network is designed to put that idea into practice. Individuals and companies can contribute computing resources such as graphics processing units, or GPUs, to the network and receive its native FLOP token in return for handling AI agents’ computing requests.

AI agents will be able to pay tokens to access inference work and the computing resources they need. Miners will supply computing power, while validators will verify the results. The goal is to connect AI agents directly with computing providers through a decentralized marketplace.

“If AI agents can convert tokens directly into computing resources, they will begin demanding tokens as payment from other agents or from humans,” Hayes said. “If millions to trillions of agents hold and transact in those tokens, that could create a vast payments network.”

‘No presale or VC round ... 20% of supply under review for airdrop’

Hayes said Flop marks his return to frontline management. He co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and helped pioneer the crypto derivatives market.

“When I started BitMEX, I was convinced crypto derivatives trading would become one of the most valuable businesses in the industry,” he said. “I now have the same conviction that AI agents will use a currency directly linked to computing.”

He said the agent economy will grow into a very large market. That, he added, gave him a chance to build what he sees as the most valuable payments network created so far and prompted his return to management.

Flop plans to launch its token without a presale or venture capital investment. Instead of selling tokens in advance to early investors, it plans to distribute them based on participation by users, miners and validators.

“Users, miners and validators should be able to join from the beginning on the same terms,” Hayes said. “I want to build a structure like Bitcoin and early Ethereum, where the community shares in the gains from a project’s growth.”

Flop Labs, the operating company, will receive part of the block rewards for about two years after the mainnet launch, until the first halving. After that, block rewards allocated to the company will disappear.

The project is reviewing a plan to airdrop about 20% of the total token supply in October. Users who create wallets on the testnet and carry out AI inference tasks using test tokens will receive mainnet tokens based on their activity.

The tokenomics and the conditions for the airdrop have not been finalized. Hayes said the team is adjusting the structure after gathering community feedback. It plans to release materials explaining the tokenomics first and publish a white paper within weeks.

Flop will also run a testnet for about three months to verify security and reliability. Hayes said the source code will be made public so anyone can review it. If agents decide the network is not safe and do not use it, the project cannot succeed. He added that earning trust means delivering technology that works after sufficient testing.

‘An AI bubble collapse would fuel crypto gains’

Hayes said the large amount of debt flowing into the AI industry could eventually expand liquidity in the crypto market. His argument is that heavy corporate bond issuance to finance AI data centers will compete with Treasuries and investor capital, push up market interest rates and ultimately lead to intervention by the US government and central bank.

The US Treasury recently decided to more than double the size of its long-term bond buybacks in response to rising long-dated Treasury yields. Hayes said he sees that as a sign the US is moving toward a looser form of yield curve control, or YCC.

“If the yield on the 10-year US Treasury approaches 5%, authorities will begin supplying liquidity,” he said. “The more debt issued to fund AI data center investment, the more liquidity will have to be supplied to absorb it.”

He also said a cooling in AI investment enthusiasm could become a tailwind for crypto markets. Governments may expand money supply to deal with impaired AI-related bonds and prevent shocks to the financial system.

“The bursting of the AI bubble and the process of cleaning up misallocated credit will be fuel for a crypto rally,” Hayes said. “Right now, a perfect storm is forming in the crypto market.”

He said Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies are not the market’s core driver. In his view, the key force behind Bitcoin’s price is money supply, not the policy stance of any individual politician.

“Trump, like any other US president, is not a decisive figure for the crypto market,” Hayes said. “What Bitcoin needs is not a specific politician, but an expansion in money supply.”

Whoever becomes president will have little choice but to expand fiscal spending to fulfill campaign promises and deliver benefits to supporters, he said. Rather than being a president who is good or bad for crypto, Trump is making rational choices as a politician.

‘South Korea is an ideal place to join the AI agent economy’

Hayes identified South Korea as a key market for the Flop ecosystem. He said the country’s high internet penetration, investor understanding of AI and semiconductor industry base position it to play an important role in the early growth of the agent economy.

“Korea is at the center of the AI investment boom, and investors there understand the future and growth potential of the AI industry very well,” he said. “They should seize the chance to help build a new AI ecosystem from the ground up, rather than stopping at buying expensive shares in large companies.”

He said South Korean semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will play a crucial role in the AI computing market. “Korea has strengths in producing the key equipment needed for semiconductors and AI data centers,” Hayes said. “Ultimately, semiconductors are the foundation that powers computing resources.”

He is scheduled to attend EastPoint: Seoul 2026, a global private conference on Web3, digital assets and AI, in Seoul on Sept. 28, where he will present his vision for the AI agent economy and Flop.

“Korea is a market with excellent connectivity, a highly educated population and strong belief in AI’s future,” Hayes said. “I hope Korean users and companies will understand the agent economy and help build this new ecosystem together.”