Blockchain analytics firm Nansen has predicted that by 2028, the default way most people invest in cryptocurrency will not be through manual token picking or chart reading, but through autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents operating on their behalf. The forecast, shared by Nansen on X, draws a direct parallel to one of the most consequential shifts in software engineering — the move from writing code line by line to building automated loops, quality gates, and deployment pipelines. Nansen argues that crypto investing is on the verge of the same structural transformation.
From Manual to Agent-Driven Investing
According to Nansen, AI agents will be capable of monitoring market conditions 24/7, managing risk parameters, executing trades, rebalancing portfolios, and interacting with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols without any manual input. The company envisions billions of such agents active by 2028, each representing individual investors, institutions, or protocols, all operating within automated decision frameworks that users set and adjust over time. Just a decade ago, most development teams wrote and deployed code through largely manual processes; today, continuous integration, automated testing, and deployment pipelines handle the majority of that work autonomously. Nansen argues that portfolio management is about to undergo an equivalent transformation — driven by rapid advances in large language models and on-chain automation tools.
Implications for Crypto Markets and Infrastructure
If Nansen’s timeline proves accurate, the implications for existing crypto market structures are significant. Agent-driven investing at scale could fundamentally reshape liquidity dynamics and alter trading microstructure across both centralized and decentralized venues. Exchanges and DeFi protocols will need to build infrastructure capable of handling high-frequency autonomous activity. While trading bots have operated on exchanges for years, the agent paradigm Nansen describes is qualitatively different. These are not simple rule-based programs executing buy and sell orders based on price thresholds, but goal-directed systems capable of reasoning across multiple data inputs and executing complex multi-step strategies across DeFi protocols, centralized exchanges, and on-chain positions simultaneously.
Nansen is not the only voice forecasting AI-agent dominance in investing, but as one of the most-cited analytics platforms in crypto, its public endorsement of a 2028 timeline carries unusual credibility. Whether that specific date holds or not, the move toward agentic everything seems clear. Meanwhile, frameworks like Openclaw have rapidly become popular tools for crypto-native AI agents, demonstrating both the promise and the pitfalls — autonomous agents are already breaking things as they operate at scale, reminding the industry that risk management must keep pace with automation.