Which are best for agents and the digital economy?
In today's emerging digital economy, a new question arises:
Which payment system is the most efficient for digital agents and new applications?
Two main solutions currently dominate:
Pairs for carpooling
Pairs in satellites
However, these two systems do not serve exactly the same purpose.
Understanding this difference allows for a clearer perspective.
The difference between the two and the BS3
1️⃣ Card payments: the champions of the traditional economy
Bank cards like Visa and Mastercard have dominated the world of payments for decades.
Why?
Because all the infrastructure already exists:
* 𝒉𝒐̂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒔
* 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒆́𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒔
* 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒂𝑺
* 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒏 ligine
* supremachrets
* statistic-service
In other words, the cards work perfectly for payments that a human would normally make.
Concrete example
An AI agent booking a flight on a travel website.
The site accepts:
* Visa
* Mastard
* Parfois Amican Experis
In this case:
➡ Bank cards remain the simplest solution
➡ The systems are already connected
➡ Merchants are already equipped
Cards are therefore perfect for interacting with today's economy.
2️⃣ Stablecoins: Champions of the New Digital Economy
Stablecoins like USDT or USDC operate on a different principle.
They are not simply a means of payment.
Above all, they enable transactions impossible with bank cards.
Examples of things impossible with a card
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 $0.001
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒔 3 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒆 AP1
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑰𝑨
Cards aren't designed for that.
Stablecoins, on the other hand, operate directly on blockchains like Ethereum or Solana.
This allows:
* of professional posts
* of accessible posts
* of 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒓𝒐-𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
* 𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆-𝒂̀-𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆
We are gradually entering the economics of agents.
These are standalone software programs capable of:
* Retrieving secretions
* Acquiring denones
* Failing to clear code
* 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒄 𝒅’𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔
In this economy:
* some transactions resemble those of humans
* others are entirely new
And that's where the difference becomes clear.
When to use a card?
For:
* 𝒓𝒆́𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏 𝒉𝒐̂𝒕𝒆𝒍
* 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒅’𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒏
* 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒂𝑺
* 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆
➡ The cards win.
When to use stablecoins?
For:
* 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒓𝒐-𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔
* 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅’𝑨𝑷𝑰
* 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒖𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅
* 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆́𝒔
* 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔
➡ Stablecoins are winning.
Many believe that stablecoins will replace cards.
But the reality is different.
The two systems are complementary.
Cards dominate the current human economy.
Stablecoins dominate the new programmable digital economy.
Technology should be used to create an economy:
* 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒅𝒆
* 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒆
* 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂̀ 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒔
Stablecoins can allow someone in Burkina Faso to send value instantly to someone in Brazil, without an intermediary bank.
And in the future, intelligent agents will be able to:
* travel
* pay
* pay
* call
* call
automatically.
We are gradually moving:
from a human-centric economy…
to a human-centric + machine-centric economy.
And in this new world, understanding payment mechanisms becomes an essential skill.
Reflection inspired by a post by Jack Simison on X.