Cathie Wood Urges Investors to Monitor AI Agents

Cathie Wood urges investors to monitor AI agents.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has urged investors to “monitor AI agents”—specifically, how they spend money and which payment networks they use, according to CoinDesk.

Speaking at the Robinhood Summit, Wood recalled previously advising investors to watch developers to understand technology trends.

Now, she believes AI agents, which not only respond to queries but also act on behalf of users and can make payments, are becoming the new benchmark.

If millions of agents start independently choosing which software, services, and networks to use, their activity could become another way to track demand trends. However, Wood emphasized that they will also need a payment tool.

Risk Mitigation

SharpLink Co-CEO and former BlackRock digital assets head Joseph Chalom advocated for open infrastructure for agent-based finance. He considers it risky if such services are controlled by a few banks or tech platforms.

Chalom described a basic scenario: a user allows an agent to spend up to $500 on hotel bookings but retains the right to revoke access and review the activity history at any time.

According to him, users should be able to transfer agents between providers along with identification, financial data, and access rights. Open blockchains like Ethereum are suitable for this purpose.

“A world full of smart agents means nothing if a handful of companies decide where you can invest your money,” Chalom wrote.

In September, Robinhood introduced Robinhood Agents—AI agents integrated into the app for market analysis, strategy building, and trade execution.

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