Governments and businesses around the world are exploring how blockchain and AI can improve financial systems and digital interactions. From payments and capital markets to identity verification and cross-border transactions, blockchain is increasingly viewed as an important component of the future digital economy.
At the same time, AI is moving beyond generating information to taking actions on behalf of users. As this happens, AI agents will increasingly need ways to interact with financial infrastructure, make payments and execute transactions. For India, recognising the growing convergence between AI and onchain technologies presents an opportunity to shape the next phase of its digital economy. Emerging use cases such as agentic commerce, stablecoin payments and payment standards such as x402 are opening up new possibilities for digital interactions and financial infrastructure.
The question is no longer whether these technologies will become part of the global economy, but which countries will take a leadership role in their development and adoption.
India has the capabilities to become one of these leaders.
India has some of the finest pools of technology talent and remains among the leading digital asset adoption markets. Combined with the country's digital-first mindset, these strengths position India as a strong contender to emerge as a global hub for responsible digital asset innovation.
A growing talent pool
Alongside a largely tech-savvy population, India has a large pool of talented software developers, engineers and technology professionals. Over the past few decades, this has helped propel India as a key centre for IT services, with the focus now shifting towards entrepreneurship and building product-based companies.Indian developers are actively contributing to blockchain research, protocol development and open-source projects supporting the broader onchain ecosystem. At the same time, India's growing capabilities in AI development create an opportunity to bring these two areas of expertise together.
As AI agents become more capable of acting on behalf of users, they will require infrastructure that enables them to securely interact with financial systems, digital assets and payment networks. India's combination of AI talent, blockchain expertise and digital infrastructure gives it a strong foundation to participate in and help shape this transition.
Moreover, over the past decade, India, on the back of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and UPI, has built strong digital infrastructure, demonstrating its ability to build and operate complex digital systems at scale.
Innovation beyond digital assets
To grasp the full potential of India, it is important to look beyond digital assets as a concept and explore the potential of blockchain technology more broadly.Blockchain technology can facilitate innovations through transparency, reduced inefficiencies, security and increased access across areas including cross-border transactions, financial services, supply chains, ecommerce and asset tokenisation.
The convergence of AI and onchain infrastructure could further expand these possibilities. AI can provide the intelligence and automation required to execute increasingly complex tasks, while onchain infrastructure can provide programmable rails through which those actions can be authenticated and settled.
This could enable new forms of agentic commerce, where AI systems interact with businesses, make payments and execute transactions with limited human intervention. Stablecoins and emerging payment standards such as x402 also illustrate how payment infrastructure could evolve for increasingly digital and machine-driven interactions.
The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to add AI to existing products, but to understand how AI and onchain infrastructure can work together to support the next generation of digital commerce.
India is no longer a passive recipient of innovations coming from around the globe. The country is developing its own solutions and increasingly becoming a centre for technology research, product development and innovation.
Why responsible innovation matters
Innovation alone, however, is not enough.The next phase of digital asset growth will be defined not only by technology, but also by trust, transparency and consumer protection. This becomes particularly important as AI systems become capable of interacting with financial infrastructure and executing transactions on behalf of users.
Policymakers and regulators therefore have an important role to play in creating frameworks that provide clarity, foster innovation and mitigate risks.
Regulatory clarity is increasingly shaping the global environment for digital asset innovation. Europe’s MiCA framework, the US GENIUS Act and the evolving US regulatory framework around market structure and digital assets, including recent actions by the SEC and CFTC, reflect a broader move towards clearer rules for the sector. Australia is also advancing its digital asset framework, with ASIC responsible for licensing and supervising digital asset platforms under the new regime.
For India, this presents an opportunity to develop an approach to digital assets and blockchain that balances innovation with consumer protection and market integrity.
Looking forward
India has an opportunity to become a leader in blockchain and digital asset innovation, supported by the talent to build world-class infrastructure, a strong digital foundation and an entrepreneurial ecosystem capable of driving innovation.As AI and onchain technologies increasingly converge, India can look beyond the current wave of AI adoption and consider the infrastructure required for a more autonomous digital economy. The growth of agentic commerce, stablecoin payments and programmable financial infrastructure suggests that the next phase of digital transformation will be shaped not by AI or onchain technology in isolation, but by how effectively they work together.
The future of the digital economy is being created today. By combining innovation, talent, infrastructure and thoughtful policy, India can play a meaningful role in shaping this future rather than merely becoming a part of it.
(The author John O'Loghlen is Managing Director, APAC, Coinbase.)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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