The global artificial intelligence (AI) market size is projected to grow from $214.6 billion (in 2024) to $1,339.1 billion by 2030, representing a 35.7% compound annual growth rate.
Source: MarketsandMarkets
While notable, a number of concerns are being raised about AI’s impact on the job market. For example, AI is capable of writing code, leaving some wondering if AI will eventually replace human developers entirely.
AI’s Impact on The Crypto Sector
The use of AI in crypto has also expanded significantly. AI agents are now participating in trading, executing smart contracts, and managing decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Additionally, the market capitalization of AI agents continues to surge, with CoinMarketCap reporting a total valuation exceeding $13.5 billion.
AI agents are evolving as well. Level 3 agents have now emerged with enhanced autonomy and advanced learning capabilities, mirroring human cognitive functions.
Will AI Replace Crypto Developers?
Although AI agents are becoming smarter, industry experts believe that crypto developers shouldn’t be concerned about AI replacing humans – at least not anytime soon.
Manthan Dave, co-founder of digital asset custodian Palisade, told Cryptonews that while progress within the AI coding landscape is impressive, much of it is overhyped and misunderstood.
“AI is getting insanely good at building standard web applications. If you need a React component or want to set up a basic CRUD app, AI assistants will save you hours of work. That’s because they’ve been trained on mountains of similar code from GitHub and other sources,” Dave said.
But Dave also mentioned that GitHub data contains questionable patterns that shows AI doesn’t always know the difference between good code and code that just happens to work, regardless of quality.
“I tried using an AI assistant for a simple test web app – it nailed the dashboard UI in minutes, but then gave me an authentication implementation that would make any security expert cringe. You still need to know what you’re looking at,” Dave said.
Moreover, he pointed out that the narrative becomes more complex when it comes to crypto and blockchain projects.
“These projects make up just a small slice of GitHub’s codebase, which creates a fundamental data problem for AI models that thrive on abundant examples,” he said.
That being said, Dave believes there is not nearly as much information needed for AI systems to replace crypto developers anytime soon.
“Try asking an AI to help with a cross-chain bridge implementation or a complex staking contract, and you’ll quickly find yourself in endless cyclic arguments or hallucination territory,” he remarked.
AI Will Help Crypto Developers Advance
Although AI won’t replace crypto developers in the near future, AI will help some advance.
Dr. Alastair Moore, founding partner at Web3 venture studio The Building Blocks and an AI professor at University College London, told Cryptonews that crypto developers will soon see their roles shift towards higher-level oversight, creative architecture, and guiding AI systems.
He added that AI is starting to boost productivity for crypto developers by automating time-consuming tasks.
For example, he mentioned that AI tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT help to quickly generate Solidity code and explain Web3 APIs.
In addition, AI-powered auditors like ChainGPT can rapidly scan smart contracts for vulnerabilities, while large language model-driven (LLM) chatbots streamline developer support and community management.
“The ability to perform detailed analysis of complex on-chain actions will continue to accelerate LLMs,” Moore said. “These advancements have reduced bugs, accelerated code deployment, and have enabled developers to focus more on complex design decisions and innovation.”
Andrew Hill, co-founder and CEO of Recall Network, told Cryptonews that while AI won’t replace crypto developers, it will oust those who don’t use these capabilities from their jobs.
“AI is a tool that multiplies a developer’s intelligence. Crypto development isn’t just code – it’s protocol design, incentives, governance. These are human problems, best tackled by augmented humans, not black-box models,” Hill said.
He added that Recall Network – a decentralized intelligence network designed for autonomous AI agents to store, share, and exchange knowledge on-chain – enables crypto builders to prove their intelligence in the rising era of AI.
For instance, Hill explained that AI agents compete to optimize decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies, identify vulnerabilities, and coordinate multi-agent systems.
Yet he noted that this isn’t just about using AI, but also proving which AI agents actually work.
“That’s where Recall enters, as we are turning open AI performance into a public good for the entire crypto ecosystem,” Hill said.
Challenges Associated With AI and Crypto
While AI will help crypto developers advance, a number of challenges remain.
Matej Janež, head of partnerships at Oasis Protocol, told Cryptonews that one of the biggest challenges is ensuring crypto stays decentralized.
“The first iterations of crypto and AI projects are pushing forward with novel use cases. However, with fast development, they’re also making compromises on the decentralization side of things,” Janež said.
Combating bias is another ongoing challenge. Zac Cheah, co-founder of Pundi AI,told Cryptonews that poorly trained AI models can produce skewed results. If the data used to train AI is limited or unbalanced, the model may reinforce existing biases rather than making fair decisions.
Cheah explained that a potential solution to this problem is using diverse datasets and transparent validation processes to ensure fairness.
“Decentralized approaches can also help mitigate bias,” he said. “For example, at Pundi AI, one of the tools in development is a decentralized AI data annotation platform. This platform allows users to participate in data tagging and rewards them for their contributions.”
Cheah noted that distributing data collection and labeling across a broader, more diverse group, helps create more balanced AI models.
Kony Kwong, CEO and co-founder of GAIB, further mentioned that a significant challenge in using AI in the crypto space is the lack of dedicated models for crypto code analysis and development.
“The unique nature of blockchain technology requires specialized AI models that are currently in their infancy,” Kwong said.
Partnership Between AI and Crypto Developers
Given these challenges, Moore believes that AI and crypto developers must evolve toward a collaborative partnership moving forward.
“Developers who effectively leverage AI tools will have significant advantages in efficiency, security, and innovation, reshaping the landscape into one where AI amplifies human creativity rather than replacing it entirely,” he said.
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