Kite is one of those projects that made me stop and really think about where blockchain and AI are heading together. We talk a lot about AI agents doing work for us, but very few people stop to ask a simple question: how do these agents actually pay for things, make decisions, and stay under control? That’s exactly where Kite comes in, and that’s why I find it interesting on a deeper level.
At its core, Kite is building a blockchain specifically designed for agentic payments. In simple words, they want autonomous AI agents to be able to send money, receive money, and coordinate with each other in a secure and controlled way. Not just quickly, but responsibly. They aren’t building a general-purpose blockchain and hoping AI will fit into it later. Instead, they’re starting with the assumption that AI agents will become real economic actors, and then designing the blockchain around that reality.
The Kite blockchain is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 network. That means it works with Ethereum-style smart contracts and tools, which is a big deal because developers already know how to build on EVM chains. But Kite isn’t just another EVM chain. It’s optimized for real-time transactions and coordination, which matters a lot when you’re dealing with AI agents that might be making many small decisions and payments very quickly. If an agent has to wait minutes for confirmation or deal with unpredictable fees, the whole idea breaks down. Kite is trying to solve that at the base layer.
What really makes Kite stand out to me is how they handle identity. Instead of treating identity as one flat thing, they split it into three layers: users, agents, and sessions. I like to explain it like this. The user is the human or organization at the top. That’s me, or a company, or a DAO. The agent is the AI that I delegate tasks to. And the session is a temporary permission that allows the agent to act for a specific purpose or time window.
This separation is extremely important. It means I can give an AI agent authority without giving it unlimited power. For example, I might allow an agent to spend up to a certain amount, interact only with specific services, or act only during a defined session. If something goes wrong, I can revoke or limit that authority without losing control of my main identity. From a security and governance perspective, this is a very thoughtful design, especially for a future where agents operate continuously without human supervision.
Another key piece of Kite’s design is that it is stablecoin-native. In practice, this means AI agents don’t have to deal with volatile assets when making payments. If an agent is paying for compute, data, subscriptions, or physical services, it makes much more sense to use stablecoins with predictable value. This allows agents to operate like rational economic actors, making decisions based on real costs instead of guessing around price swings. For machine-to-machine commerce, this isn’t just a nice feature, it’s almost a requirement.
Kite also introduces programmable governance and constraints directly into how agents operate. Instead of trusting that an AI agent will “behave,” the rules are enforced by the blockchain itself. If an agent tries to do something outside of its permissions, the transaction simply won’t go through. I find this powerful because it shifts trust away from opaque AI behavior and toward transparent, verifiable rules. Everything is recorded on-chain, which makes audits and accountability much easier for businesses and institutions.
The KITE token sits at the center of this ecosystem. It’s the native token of the network, but its utility is being rolled out in phases. In the first phase, the focus is on ecosystem participation and incentives. That means KITE is used to bootstrap the network, reward early builders, and encourage adoption. I actually like this approach because it avoids forcing heavy financial mechanics before the network is ready.
Later, in the second phase, KITE expands into more traditional blockchain roles. Staking will help secure the network, governance will allow token holders to influence decisions, and fees will tie real usage to the token’s value. This phased rollout suggests the team is thinking carefully about long-term sustainability instead of rushing everything at once. It also tells me they understand that utility should follow real usage, not the other way around.
When I think about real-world use cases, a lot of practical scenarios start to make sense. A company could deploy AI agents to manage inventory, pay suppliers, or handle subscriptions without constant human approval. A personal AI assistant could manage recurring bills, compare prices, and execute payments within strict limits I define. In more advanced cases, entire marketplaces could emerge where AI agents buy and sell services like data access, model inference, or compute resources, all settling instantly on-chain. These aren’t science fiction ideas anymore. Kite is building the rails that could make them work safely.
The team behind Kite also adds credibility. They come from strong backgrounds in AI, data infrastructure, and large-scale systems, with experience at well-known tech companies and research institutions. On top of that, Kite has attracted serious investors, including PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst, and Coinbase Ventures. When firms like that back a project, it usually means they see a real-world business problem being addressed, not just a speculative token play.
Partnerships and early ecosystem interest suggest Kite is positioning itself as infrastructure rather than just another app. They’re not trying to be the flashiest consumer product. They’re trying to be something other builders rely on. That’s often where the most durable value in crypto ends up being created, even if it takes time.
Of course, there are risks. Adoption is the biggest one. For Kite to succeed, developers and companies actually need to build agent-based systems on top of it. Regulation is another unknown, especially around payments and autonomous systems. And technically, building a fast, secure Layer 1 that handles real value is never easy. None of this is guaranteed.
