Ant Group CEO says crypto has become one of AI payment’s four exploration paths

Ant Group CEO and Alipay chairman Han Xinyi said AI payments have broadly developed along four exploration paths, according to a Caixin report cited by BlockBeats on Aug. 31. Speaking at the China Payment and Clearing Forum, Han laid out a framework for how companies around the world are approaching AI-driven payments. In his breakdown, one path is represented by payment technology and infrastructure platforms such as Stripe. Another is led by crypto firms including Circle and Coinbase, which rely mainly on stablecoins and related wallet systems. Han said this model uses cryptocurrencies as a payment medium and can directly support automated machine-to-machine payment scenarios. The other two paths, he said, are traditional payment networks represented by Visa and Mastercard, and AI platform companies such as Google and OpenAI. Han’s remarks placed crypto-based payment rails alongside established card networks, payment infrastructure providers, and major AI platforms in the current global discussion around AI payments.