Reid Hoffman says NFTs may return as AI agents challenge online identity

Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner, told CoinDesk’s Consensus Miami conference that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are due for a “rebirth.” He believes this will happen as AI agents force the internet to solve new identity and trust problems.

Hoffman said he started rethinking NFTs when he imagined a future where AI agents outnumber humans online. He asked: “When you begin to think we’re going to have more agents than people, what does the identity layer look like?” He described a scenario where one agent books a talk with another agent and questioned whether that transaction is trustable.

Identity systems for the open internet

Hoffman noted that identity systems will exist inside companies, but the harder challenge is identity for agents operating across the open internet. He said, “It’s going to be kind of free range on the internet, and how does that work? And crypto is the obvious answer.”

This thinking ties back to Hoffman’s work at LinkedIn, where real-world professional identity was central. He said actual identity can create “more responsibility, more reliability,” though he acknowledged that pseudonyms have legitimate uses in some contexts.

Crypto as a trust solution for deepfakes

Hoffman, who bought his first Bitcoin over a decade ago and has never sold it, framed crypto as a natural answer to trust problems in the deepfake era. He cited his own AI clone, Reid AI, which he has sent to speak at conferences. He said this shows why provenance will matter more as generative media improves.

He explained that the identity problem goes beyond agent-to-agent commerce. He pointed to AI-generated content, bot farms, manipulated polls, and paid political influence campaigns as examples of why proof-of-humanity is becoming harder to ignore online.

Bipartisanship and industry strategy

In a politically nuanced comment, Hoffman urged the crypto industry not to overcommit to Republicans on policy. He warned: “If the industry goes, oh, we’re overly reacting against Gensler, et cetera, and then being kind of, as it were, anti-Democratic Party on this, the problem is that the pendulum swings.” He added that it is good to be bipartisan, focusing on the ecosystem and its role in society.

Hoffman also disputed the idea that AI is driving Big Tech layoffs. He said most companies that claim layoffs are due to AI are actually just reshifting after overhiring during the pandemic. He called the AI explanation a “position of strength” move.

Investing in crypto ideas that may return

As an investor, Hoffman said he looks for crypto concepts that may have been tried too early in prior market cycles but could become relevant again as AI changes the internet. NFTs are one example, he said, while “DAOs and other areas” could also see renewed interest.

When asked what his Bitcoin exit price is, Hoffman did not name a number. Instead, he questioned: “Is there such a thing as an exit price?”

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