Permissionless IV Recap: Where the Stack Is Headed

Permissionless IV Recap: Where the Stack Is Headed

Permissionless IV brought the industry to New York with a clear focus on what’s working. AI is showing up in protocol design. Stablecoins are gaining traction as core infrastructure. DeFi is evolving toward automation. Regulation is starting to recognize how these systems connect.

Nexus was there to be part of that conversation and to share how our work fits into what’s next.

AI is moving into the base layer of crypto infrastructure

AI was widely discussed at Permissionless, with a focus on practical tools rather than hype.

  • Onchain inference and zk-proven model outputs are moving from theory to implementation
  • Agents are being treated as first-class participants in protocols, not just interfaces to dApps
  • There’s a growing push to build systems that don’t just settle transactions, but make economic decisions

At Nexus, we’re building infrastructure with AI in mind from the start.

That includes use cases like verified inference, automated execution, and agent coordination. We’re not layering AI on top. We’re designing systems that assume it from the beginning.

Nexus Founder and CEO Daniel Marin was a speaker on a panel about open source AI. Find the talk here:

Stablecoins are becoming the base layer for new financial systems

A key theme was that stablecoins are no longer just a way to move value. They’re becoming the liquidity behind payments, credit, and capital formation.

  • Teams are designing stablecoin-first applications
  • Use cases are expanding across FX, lending, and automated market coordination
  • New systems are forming around stable liquidity, not just native tokens

This is a key focus for us at Nexus. We’re exploring what it means to build systems that start with stablecoins as a default. It’s about giving agents and users access to capital that moves through programmable systems.

DeFi is adapting to new kinds of users and liquidity

The DeFi conversation was less about total value locked (TVL) and more about coordination.

  • Intent-based design is replacing manual interfaces
  • Liquidity is being directed by programs, not just people
  • Builders are designing for automation from the start

That perspective is shaping how we approach execution, strategy, and composability across the stack.

For more on this, check out our series on the layers of the Nexus Layer:

The Nexus Execution Layer and the Universal Proof
The Nexus Layer 1’s Execution Layer enables the supercomputer to scale indefinitely — both in throughput and security.

Where this is going

Permissionless IV made it clear that crypto’s most interesting edge is no longer just financial. It’s computational. The builders leading this next phase are treating AI, stablecoins, and DeFi not as separate categories but as parts of the same system.

That’s the future we’re building toward at Nexus.

Connect with us on X and Discord.

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to Nexus.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.