In episode four of Layer One, The Block's Kelvin Sparks and Hypha Founder Steven Gates were joined by Kite AI's Head of Business Development and Strategy, Lei Lei, to discuss why AI agents need dedicated blockchain infrastructure rather than general purpose blockchains. The trio also touch on the recent hype around Claude Code, why enterprise giants are panicking about AI disruption, and how the X-402 payments protocol did $600M in volume last year.

OUTLINE

00:00 - Introduction

01:13 - Claude Code

04:26 - Why Avalanche

09:40 - X-402 Explained

13:01 - General Purpose Chains

19:37 - Swarms Gone Rogue

26:53 - Crypto-Native Enterprises?

30:03 - $600M & Counting

37:04 - Big Name Backers

42:07 - Winners & Losers

47:30 - Outro

Host/Guest links:

Lei Lei - https://x.com/lei_lei0904

⁠KiteAI - ⁠https://x.com/GoKiteAI

Steven Gates - ⁠twitter.com/stvngts⁠

Kelvin Sparks - ⁠twitter.com/imyoungsparks⁠

Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters!

🚨 Breaking News

👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis

📈 Market Insights

Subscribe now 👉 ⁠https://www.theblock.co/newsletters⁠

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiring in crypto?

🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!

✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test

⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teamsStart your free trial today

👉 ⁠https://theblock.co/campus