Interview with Xiao Feng of HashKey: AI Agents Must Be Assigned Digital Identities to Enhance Trustworthiness
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Interview with Xiao Feng of HashKey: AI Agents Must Be Assigned Digital Identities to Enhance Trustworthiness
In the future, everyone may own 50 AI agents.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Chan Kin-hang, Reporter, Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)
● Xiao Feng (left) recently sat for an exclusive interview with Chen Weiming, host of “Jing ‘Wei’ Lun.” Photo by Wan Shuangling, Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong) reporter.
AI and blockchain share a “two-sides-of-one-coin” relationship. It was not until the breakout popularity of AI Agents—such as OpenClaw—that AI demonstrated its ability to autonomously perform tasks for humans and replace certain workflows. Yet this advancement also highlighted critical security concerns surrounding AI Agents. Assigning them digital identities via blockchain is one effective way to manage them. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group, stated in his recent exclusive interview with “Jing ‘Wei’ Lun” that while he is not an AI technology expert himself, he observes from the perspective of blockchain and digital financial infrastructure that AI and cryptographic technologies are progressively converging. With the rapid rise of cutting-edge AI Agents like OpenClaw, future AI Agents may evolve beyond mere tools into independent economic actors requiring their own “identities” and “native wallet accounts.” Blockchain technology thus emerges as the key enabler for binding digital identities to AI Agents.
On the topic of identity systems for AI Agents, Xiao Feng believes all future AI Agents will possess independent “identities”—but these identities will not mirror real-world ID systems. Instead, a technically suitable solution lies in implementing identities via blockchain-based addresses and Soulbound Tokens (SBTs). He points out that adopting existing human ID frameworks for AI Agents is clearly impractical. He notes that Ethereum’s founder proposed the concept of Soulbound Tokens seven years ago—an extension of the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) concept introduced at the time. Since each NFT is unique, leveraging NFTs and blockchain technology enables the assignment of a distinct digital identity to every AI Agent.
“If AI Agents begin operating independently of humans and generating economic value, they will inevitably require an account—and currently, the only viable format is a digital wallet, not a bank account opened on their behalf.” Xiao Feng said. He explained that during the large language model (LLM) phase, users purchase tokens using traditional bank accounts to access Chinese-developed LLM services. However, once we enter a scenario where AI Agents transact freely with one another, conventional banking infrastructure fails to scale due to fundamental limitations—including constraints on the number of accounts per agent, unclear accountability, high transaction costs, and low operational efficiency. HashKey Group has joined the Agent Payment Protocol (AP2) technical alliance initiated by Google, collaborating with institutions such as PayPal, Circle, and UnionPay International to explore AI Agent payment systems—including stablecoin payments, on-chain identity, and on-chain settlement for AI Agents.
Each Person May One Day Have Up to 50 AI Agents
Xiao Feng noted that in recent discussions with AI experts and scholars, a broad consensus has emerged: AI and cryptographic technologies (blockchain/crypto) are two sides of the same coin—destined to deeply integrate, empower each other, and develop synergistically. Citing AI experts, he added that in the future, each individual may own up to 50 AI Agents. These agents will seamlessly permeate every aspect of our lives—from mundane daily tasks to complex decision-making—significantly enhancing personal productivity and quality of life.
Hong Kong Is Well-Positioned to Become the Digital Finance “Wall Street”
Amid intensifying global competition fueled by the AI boom, Xiao Feng believes Hong Kong enjoys a uniquely advantageous position—“standing firmly behind the motherland.” If leveraged effectively, Hong Kong can secure a central role in the global digital economy. He observes that across three pivotal domains—the internet, blockchain, and AI—the landscape remains largely dominated by China and the U.S. As an integral part of China, Hong Kong can fully tap into the mainland’s vast talent pool, asset base, and technological resources—a distinctive advantage unmatched elsewhere in the world. Leveraging its role as a “super connector” and the institutional strengths of common law under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, Hong Kong is fully capable of realizing the HKSAR Government’s goal of becoming a “global digital asset hub.” It may even help reshape the global financial architecture—from the historical “NY-LON-HK” triad toward a new “NY-HK-LON” configuration—further elevating Hong Kong’s status within the global financial system.
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