# Flop targets AI agent payments as Arthur Hayes sees Ether at $10,000 by year-end

> Arthur Hayes forecasts Ethereum hitting $10,000 by year-end as AI agents need a dedicated crypto payment network.
- Title: Flop targets AI agent payments as Arthur Hayes sees Ether at…
- Summary: Arthur Hayes forecasts Ethereum hitting $10,000 by year-end as AI agents need a dedicated crypto payment network. Arthur Hayes predicts Ethereum will reach…
- Keywords: flop, ai agents, eth, ethereum, compute, ai industry, crypto payments, bitmex, maelstrom, flop labs, ai economy, stablecoins
- Source: TokenPost — https://tokenpost.com/news/insights/34637
- Published: 2026-10-19T07:24:53+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: flop, ai agents, eth, ethereum, compute, ai industry, crypto payments, bitmex, maelstrom, flop labs, ai economy, stablecoins
## Arthur Hayes on AI agent payments
Arthur Hayes says AI agents need a dedicated cryptocurrency payment network to purchase computing power directly.

> stablecoins are unlikely to become the core currency of the agent economy because they are not directly tied to compute
## Flop blockchain for AI agents
Flop Labs is building a proof-of-useful-inference blockchain where participants contribute GPUs to process inference requests and mine tokens.

> Flop Labs is building a proof-of-useful-inference blockchain based on principles pioneered by Bitcoin
## Ethereum price forecast
Hayes forecasts Ethereum reaching $10,000 by year-end due to potential AI sector collapse and crypto demand from Korean investors.

> Ether is his largest position outside Bitcoin, citing its liquidity, long operating history and status as the layer-1 network with the largest market capitalization
## AI industry profitability concerns
Hayes warns deteriorating AI profitability could lead to global crypto demand as investors rotate back from AI stocks.

> If they slow their consumption of data centers, the U.S. government could become the buyer of compute of last resort
## Key takeaway

Arthur Hayes predicts Ethereum will reach $10,000 by year-end and says AI agents require a crypto payment system for computing power.