Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal has laid out a bold vision: the combination of AI and blockchain could add as much as $100 trillion to the global economy within the next decade, and push the crypto market from about $2.7 trillion today to roughly $100 trillion. Pal argues we’re witnessing a convergence of AI and blockchain into a single new infrastructure layer for the global economy — an opportunity to “own the infrastructure layer for the first time in history.” He paints the moment as a historic acceleration, likening AI’s adoption curve to “Metcalfe’s law squared” and citing evidence that AI is already producing more words annually than humans. That trajectory, he says, is driving systems toward what he calls “apex intelligence,” with far-reaching implications for labor, finance and everyday life. Where his thesis has evolved Pal’s $100 trillion forecast builds on an earlier macro view that a debt-driven liquidity cycle would lift crypto through 2026. Now he adds AI as a durable, structural demand driver on top of that macro backdrop. In his view, AI agents will require blockchains’ unique capabilities — instant settlement, fractional payments and permissionless access — features legacy payment systems cannot scale to provide. Permissionless equity and banks on-chain Pal describes crypto as a “permissionless equity” system: anyone with a phone can gain exposure to blockchain infrastructure without KYC barriers. He has also predicted that banks will eventually run on Ethereum, treating the network as long-term financial plumbing rather than an experimental playground. What could derail adoption? When asked what could stop this trajectory, Pal’s answer was blunt: “Nothing stops this train.” He believes demand from AI-driven agents for on-chain rails is now structural, not merely cyclical. Investment stance Pal recommends a core allocation strategy: hold Bitcoin as a pure store of value and maintain a basket of major layer-1 networks to capture the coordination and settlement layer growth. He emphasizes that flows between assets usually reflect capital rotation rather than a change in the underlying structural thesis, arguing for staying with core positions over chasing speculative bets. Bottom line Pal’s forecast is ambitious and polarizing, but it frames a clear narrative: AI isn’t just a new app category — combined with blockchain, it could underpin the next generation of global economic infrastructure, reshaping markets and sparking massive capital formation across crypto over the coming decade. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news