Kite wants to build a brand-new kind of blockchain one made not for people, but for autonomous AI agents. The idea is that these agents will one day act on behalf of users to do real tasks: pay for services, subscribe to data feeds, buy products, maybe even negotiate deals. But for that to work safely and sensibly, agents need three core things: identity, payment tools, and programmable rules. That’s where Kite comes in.
Under the hood, Kite is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain. That means it’s similar in structure to blockchains like Ethereum, so developers already familiar with Ethereum tools can adopt it. But Kite isn’t just copying Ethereum. It’s optimized for AI-agent behavior: micropayments, stablecoin settlements, low latency, dedicated payment lanes. In other words fast, cheap transactions that make sense when an agent might place dozens or hundreds of small payments in a short time.
On top of that, Kite offers a carefully thought-out identity and permissions layer. Instead of treating agents like human wallets, Kite gives each agent a unique, verifiable cryptographic identity the so-called “Agent Passport.” Agents don’t just get a wallet: they get a passport and programmable permissions. That means I (the human) can tell my agent, “You can spend up to $50 per day, only use this budget for data-feed subscriptions,” or “You can only operate during these hours.” Everything is enforceable, transparent, and auditable.
To help agents interact with real-world services, Kite also built what they call the “Agent App Store.” This is a marketplace where agents can discover services (APIs, data providers, commerce platforms) and if permissions allow — automatically pay for them. Imagine an agent that buys you a software subscription, or orders a product online, all by itself, once you set the rules. Early on, Kite has already built integrations with big names like PayPal and Shopify meaning merchants on those platforms can choose to be discoverable by AI agents, and purchases can settle on-chain using stablecoins.
Kite’s native token, KITE, plays a central role. The tokenomics are designed thoughtfully: when KITE first launches, it will be used for ecosystem access and incentives for example, module owners (like data providers or AI-service builders) may need to lock KITE for liquidity pools, or hold KITE to plug into the network. This helps bootstrap early participation. Later, once the mainnet is live and usage grows, KITE is expected to enable staking, governance, and fee-related mechanisms aligning token value with real usage and network growth.
What impresses me is the background of the team behind Kite. The founders and engineers come from deep roots in AI, data infrastructure, and blockchain systems. They previously built large-scale real-time data infrastructures supporting networks like Sui, Polygon, Chainlink, and EigenLayer. Kite launched after they spotted a gap blockchains and payment systems just aren’t built for autonomous AI agents doing machine-speed microtransactions.
Investors seem to agree. In September 2025, Kite raised a fresh $18 million in a Series A round led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, bringing total funding to about $33 million. Other backers include prominent names across venture capital and blockchain foundations. That kind of institutional support for an AI-payment blockchain feels like a major vote of confidence.
So what might this look like in the real world? Imagine you have an AI assistant that books your flights, pays for your streaming subscriptions, or buys data for you automatically. Or a data-analysis agent that, when it needs extra compute, negotiates and pays a compute-service agent. Or an IoT device (say, a smart energy meter) that pays for data feed subscriptions or maintenance services automatically. All of this could happen with transparent identity, programmable rules, and stablecoin payments no credit-cards, no intermediaries, no delays.
There are still challenges. For one adoption. For Kite’s vision to work, many agents, services, and merchants need to adopt its identity/payment protocols. Also, real-world regulatory and compliance constraints might complicate autonomous agent payments, especially when stablecoins are involved. And the system will need robust security and governance to prevent misuse or runaway agents.
But despite those challenges, I personally feel Kite is a brilliant, bold step toward something new. It doesn’t just try to retrofit AI onto existing blockchains it reimagines the blockchain itself as a first-class home for AI agents. If Kite delivers on its promises, I believe it could unlock a whole new era: an “agentic internet,” where machines transact, collaborate, and deliver value safely, autonomously, and transparently. And I’m curious to see the first real-world apps where agents act on behalf of humans that’s when this idea will start to feel real.
