The current most pressing issue with AI agents is not computational power or models, but rather 'identity' and 'payment.' A powerful language model can help you run quantitative strategies, place orders, and reinvest compound interest 24/7, but would you dare to hand over your exchange API key directly to it? 99% of users would not, because once the key is leaked, it results in a 100% loss. This is precisely the pain point that Kite's three-layer identity system aims to address.
Kite breaks down identity into three independent but interconnected layers: the user holds the root private key, the agent has a limited sub-account, and the session layer uses a one-time signature key (Session Key). This design draws on the traditional financial concept of 'custodial accounts + trader permissions + single transaction authorization,' yet is fully implemented on-chain. The agent can freely make payments and sign smart contracts within the authorized scope, automatically invalidating beyond permissions or upon session expiration. A demonstration video released on Twitter by @GoKiteAI shows that users only need three clicks to set fine-grained rules for the agent, such as 'maximum daily payment of 500 USDT, prohibit transfers to blacklisted addresses,' truly bringing 'programmable governance' into practice.
In terms of performance, Kite chooses a parallel EVM + custom data availability layer solution, with a single slot time of only 400ms and final state confirmation <1 second. This means that two AI agents can complete the entire process of 'price inquiry - contract signing - payment - delivery confirmation' on-chain without waiting for several seconds, nor relying on centralized payment gateways. Combined with the upcoming 'intent-centric' transaction abstraction layer, agents only need to express 'I want to buy 1000U of a certain token at the optimal price', and the underlying solver will automatically complete cross-chain, order splitting, and slippage control, making the entire process completely transparent to users.
In terms of token economics, $KITE adopts a two-phase activation strategy. The first phase has rapidly bootstrapped the ecosystem through airdrops and liquidity mining, while the second phase will introduce PoS staking and on-chain treasury governance. It is noteworthy that 70% of the Kite transaction fees will go directly into the community treasury, with the usage direction decided by votes from $KITE holders and users, which holds special significance in the era of AI agents: in the future, voting rights can also be delegated to specialized 'governance agents', forming a multi-layered democratic experiment of 'human-agent-governance agent'.
According to the latest roadmap from @GoKiteAI, the mainnet is expected to launch in Q1 2026, at which time the AI Agent SDK and cross-chain identity bridge will be launched simultaneously. Kite's goal is very clear: to ensure that every AI agent has a verifiable on-chain identity, programmable financial permissions, and composable payment capabilities. Only when billions of AI agents can securely and frictionlessly hold and pay with crypto assets will we truly witness the explosion of the 'agent economy'.
