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:
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.
Daniel McGlynn
