You may not have realized yet, but we now have a group of AI "workers". For example, an information assistant that helps you pick news every morning, a robot that automatically compares prices while shopping, or a digital employee that automatically generates reports in the company. But the problem is that these AIs are currently still basically "tools" — they can only follow instructions for specific tasks, cannot independently "make decisions", cannot "negotiate", and certainly cannot "spend money to get things done".
What Kite AI aims to do is to give these AIs a "digital ID card" + "salary card", allowing them to truly become economically participating entities that can work autonomously.
One, core idea: Build a dedicated "highway" for AI
Imagine if every AI assistant, data analysis robot, and automated customer service had to open bank accounts, sign contracts, and issue invoices like humans… how inefficient that would be. Kite's thinking is straightforward: since AI will be the main laborers of the future economy, a separate economic system must be built for them.
The core of this system is the Kite Layer-1 blockchain, but it fundamentally differs from Bitcoin and Ethereum that we are familiar with: it is specifically designed for AI, not for humans. This means:
Extremely fast: Supports millions of AIs to "dialogue" and trade simultaneously, almost in real-time.
Costs approaching zero: Small payments between AIs (like buying a piece of data or renting a second of computing power) can also be established.
Identity is fundamental: Every AI has a lifelong digital identity from the moment of "birth", with all actions traceable and accountable.
Two, how can AI "earn and spend" on its own? The key lies in these three aspects.
1. Digital passport: AI's "identity card" and "responsibility badge"
Kite gives each AI agent a unique digital identity, independent of its creator or user. For example, an AI customer service used by your company may be rented to another company as a training assistant after completing tasks—its "service record" and "credit score" will follow the identity, enabling credit accumulation across scenarios.
2. Built-in payment protocol (x402): AI's "digital wallet"
When AI trade with each other, they can directly invoke protocols to complete stablecoin payments without going through third-party platforms or manual confirmation. For instance, if your research robot finds a paper that requires payment to download, it can spend $0.05 to purchase it and charge it to your account.
3. Rule engine: Setting "legal bottom lines" for AI
AI can act independently, but it must not act recklessly. Kite's chain can preset rules, such as "unverified data sources cannot be purchased" and "single payments cannot exceed $10"—this gives AI freedom while controlling risk.
Three, why can this succeed now? Because both AI and blockchain have "grown up".
A few years ago, AI could only perform single tasks like image recognition and text generation; blockchain was slow and expensive, even causing network congestion for trading cat and dog images. But now it’s different:
In AI: The rapid development of agent technology has enabled AI to understand complex goals, break down tasks, and use tools.
In blockchain: The iteration of Layer-1 technology has made high throughput and low-cost chains possible.
Payment infrastructure: The popularization of stablecoins has made small on-chain payments feasible.
Kite is actually intertwining these three technological lines at the right time.
Four, they are not just talking the talk: money, people, and ecosystems are all in motion.
Capital recognition: In September 2025, they raised $18 million in Series A funding, led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst—the former understands payments, and the latter bets on the future, making the combination very telling.
Developer-friendly: Chain compatible with EVM, allowing Ethereum developers to migrate seamlessly, lowering the ecological startup threshold.
Token economy is clear: A fixed total supply of 10 billion KITE tokens, with nearly half allocated to the community. Early market capitalization shot up to $159 million, with active trading.
Notably, they recently launched Kite AIR (Agent Identity Resolution System), which already supports instant stablecoin payments and rule-based behavior authentication—indicating the project has moved from the "white paper stage" to the "early usable stage."
Five, potential challenges and imaginative space.
The challenges are apparent:
Where does the scenario start? Is it B2B enterprise AI collaboration or B2C personal AI assistant consumption?
How to ensure AI behavior is truly controllable and trustworthy? Can on-chain rules cover complex situations?
Are traditional enterprises willing to let AI "spend money on its own"?
But the imagination space is even larger:
If this system works, we may enter an "AI economic era":
You can invest in an AI lawyer, which handles cases, processes, and collects payments automatically, sharing profits with you proportionally.
Businesses can directly schedule AI labor and settle in real-time.
There may even be "AI startup companies"—a few AIs team up to take orders, while humans only need to set initial goals and distribute equity.
Six, final thoughts: What exactly is Kite betting on?
Essentially, Kite is betting on two things:
First, the autonomy of AI is inevitable. Most digital services in the future will be provided by AI, and there needs to be a native communication, collaboration, and settlement protocol among AIs.
Second, blockchain remains the best underlying technology for the value internet. Identity, rules, transactions, records—these are precisely what blockchain excels at.
Of course, everything is still very early. Kite's vision is like building an "economic operating system" for the AI world, but what applications will ultimately emerge from it still requires a lot of developers and businesses to fill in.
However, one thing is certain: If AI really becomes the main laborer of the digital economy in the future, they will definitely need their own banks, their own contracts, and their own exchanges. And Kite is attempting to be the first builder of these infrastructures.
