AI, Blockchain, and the New Logic of Markets

From tokenized artificial intelligence (AI) agents to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) governed by machine logic, this book charts the rise of intelligent systems that operate beyond traditional intermediaries. It explores the transformative convergence of AI and blockchain technology, and how their integration is reshaping the foundational logic of markets, finance, and governance. As AI systems become more autonomous and blockchain networks more decentralized, a new paradigm, what this book terms “trustless thinking,” emerges. In contrast to traditional institutions that rely on centralized control and human discretion, trustless systems shift verification, execution, and value creation to code, consensus, and machine learning. It provides a multidisciplinary analysis bridging economics, law, computer science and finance and examines how AI enhances blockchain networks with predictive analytics, algorithmic trading, autonomous agents, and on-chain governance. Simultaneously, it addresses how blockchain infrastructure mitigates key risks in AI deployment, such as bias, opacity, and data manipulation, through immutability, transparency, and distributed verification. Further, it also critically assesses regulatory, ethical, and systemic risks arising from these technologies' interaction. Aimed at scholars, policymakers, and professionals, the book offers a forward-looking framework for understanding the emerging architecture of digital trust and economic coordination in the 21st century, challenging readers to reconsider what it means to trust, to coordinate, and to govern in an era driven by algorithms and distributed networks. As debates around AI ethics and blockchain regulation heat up, this book provides the intellectual toolkit needed to engage with the most consequential technological convergence of our time.