Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink, estimates that artificial intelligence agents are set to wipe out nearly 25% of all global finance fees by 2035.
According to projections from his team’s model, investors stand to save $1.4 trillion annually. Chalom, formerly an executive at BlackRock, shared this outlook in a Wednesday post on X.
A $4 Trillion Prize and a $180 Billion Blind Spot
Chalom’s group analyzed 10 financial sectors through the year 2035. Their calculations indicate that more than $1 trillion in yearly financial services revenue will become contestable by 2030, a figure Chalom anticipates will surge to $4 trillion per year by 2035.
The model is built on the premise that AI agents will force financial institutions into sharper fee competition. Consequently, consumers are projected to retain an additional $350 billion annually by 2030, with that amount eventually rising to $1.4 trillion.
Additionally, Chalom highlights approximately $15 trillion held by U.S. households in short-term deposits, savings accounts, and checking accounts. Because much of this capital generates returns well below money-market rates, he notes that savers forfeit at least $180 billion every year.
“Over $1 trillion of annual global financial services revenue is going to be up for grabs by 2030, growing to $4 trillion annually by 2035. Every major bank, broker, payments firm, and digital assets company is racing to capture a share in one of the most important battles over money and value we will see in our time,” he said.
Visa, Coinbase, and Circle Race for the Agent’s Wallet
The race to manage these AI agents is already underway, according to Chalom. He lists Binance, Coinbase, Robinhood, Tether, Circle, PayPal, Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa as key participants in the contest.
In his estimation, whoever wins this competition will also dictate the products recommended by agents and the destination for swept idle cash.
“Whoever owns the infrastructure, owns the agent, and therefore the customer,” Chalom added.
A research report published by BlackRock this week shares a similar perspective, identifying stablecoins as the frontrunner for executing agent payments.
Chalom contends that transactions driven by agents will predominantly take place where DeFi liquidity, tokenized assets, and stablecoins gather. Much of this volume currently clusters around the Ethereum (ETH) network, which he notes achieved a milestone of 3.6 million daily transactions in April to demonstrate its expanding usage.
This perspective aligns with Sharplink’s financial holdings. Data from the firm’s dashboard shows it held 891,714 ETH as of September 14.
Conversely, Fidelity Digital Assets presented a more conservative outlook in August. Max Wadington, a senior research analyst at the firm, cautioned that fintech and technology giants might instead trap agent activity inside their own closed ecosystems.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights