At first glance, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain may seem like two separate ongoing technological trends, but the two are more greatly related than you may think, especially in the world of finance. 

In all areas of finance, from everyday transactions to new product offerings, these two technologies are helping to disrupt and reshape the traditional financial system. That’s not all. Both these technological trends are gaining momentum, and are expected to have an even greater impact on the space with each passing day.

According to a recent white paper from consulting firm Bain & Company, AI may be just two years away from becoming a trillion dollar market. A good chunk of that trillion will be represented by AI applications and marketplaces, including AI-powered financial services. According to Grand Market Research, the Blockchain market is expected to grow at a 90.1% annualized clip between now and 2030. 

As these two respective industries emerge as major pillars of the global economy, their impact on the financial space will be more greatly known, and more greatly appreciated.

How AI and Blockchain are Disrupting and Revolutionizing Finance

Global finance has many moving parts. Generative AI is at present playing an increasingly important role in enhancing and improving these parts. As you may expect, automation is an area in which generative AI is revolutionizing financial services.

Blockchain technology is helping to bring constant improvements in areas of finance such as anti-fraud measures, product offerings, and payment systems. DeFi payment systems, in particular, are getting a huge enhancement from AI integration through improved risk management, enhanced fraud detection and personalized financial services. A great example of this is the $100 million investment that Atua is making into integration AI capabilities into Ripple’s XRP ecosystem. XRP is already the 4^th largest coin with a market cap of $123.18 billion as of March 11, 2025, according to Binance. The move aims to position XRP as a leader in DeFi and further cement its place as a market powerhouse. 

Alongside automation, AI is helping to improve the customer experience. AI-powered chatbots, trained using natural language processing, are helping to provide financial service firms with 24/7 customer support. Although this technology is still in the early stages, as accuracy and reliability improve, the willingness of users to accept them as substitutes for traditional customer support will increase as well.

Beyond just routine tasks like transaction processing and customer service, AI is disrupting and revolutionizing more complex areas of finance as well. A strong example of this in the use of machine learning (ML) technology in assessing credit risk. According to Forbes, AI-powered loan underwriting has already shown to be a more efficient and effective alternative to traditional loan underwriting methods.

AI Enhances Blockchain, and Blockchain Enhances AI

Besides providing their own respective enhancements to the financial services space, AI is helping to increase finance use cases for blockchain, and vice versa. That is to say, AI algorithms are helping to provide blockchain-based financial systems with the scalability and security needed to make them viable alternatives to traditional financial systems.

As for blockchain technology enhancing AI’s utility in finance, the decentralized nature of the blockchain helps to maximize the accuracy and reliability of AI algorithms. The resultant synergies created from AI enhancing  blockchain, and blockchain enhancing AI are bringing about innovation in multiple areas in finance.

However, one area  in particular that the synergistic impact is significant is in decentralized finance (DeFi). Without AI, DeFi, with its heavy reliance on automated processes and smart contract technology, wouldn’t be able to provide an increasingly wider breadth of financial services. 

Without blockchain technology, there would of course be no DeFi. AI-related innovations to finance would be limited to the traditional financial system, where improvements to efficiency and accessibility could be far fewer.

Just the Beginning

Over a relatively short time frame, AI and blockchain technologies have already greatly reshaped the financial services landscape. However, consider this to be just the beginning. In the coming years, expect further AI and blockchain technological innovation, as well as further integration of AI technology into blockchain-based systems.

An emerging factor that will help to drive this is increased interoperability. As interoperability between blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Tron, and Solana improves, the financial use case for blockchain will improve as well.

Mainstream adoption of both technologies by traditional financial institutions is also poised to increase in the coming years In particular, once long-awaited regulatory frameworks, both in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, are developed and established.

Hence, keep an eye on developments in these areas, to gauge the extent in which AI and blockchain technology are changing the game in finance.