Kevin O’Leary Foresees AI Automating Retail Purchases via Blockchain, Beyond Ethereum’s Scalability

• AI-driven automation: Voice commands will handle ordering from nearby retailers seamlessly.

• Blockchain ensures secure, low-cost payments for high-volume transactions at stores like Walmart and Target.

• Current challenges include Ethereum’s linear processing causing delays; alternatives like Directed Acyclic Graphs offer parallel solutions, with Hedera and Nano leading in efficiency.

Kevin O’Leary reveals how AI and blockchain will transform retail payments, enabling autonomous shopping. Discover the future of seamless transactions—stay ahead with COINOTAG insights.

How Will AI and Blockchain Revolutionize Retail Payments?

AI and blockchain are set to drive the next major shift in business by automating retail purchases and streamlining payments, according to venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary. In a recent video shared on X, O’Leary described a future where users simply voice their needs, like ordering a latte, and AI handles location-based selection while blockchain processes the payment instantly. This integration promises faster, smarter transactions fully on-chain, though scalable solutions remain in development.

What Challenges Do Current Blockchain Networks Face in Handling AI-Driven Retail Transactions?

Existing blockchain platforms like Ethereum process transactions linearly, creating bottlenecks during high traffic that result in delays and elevated fees, as O’Leary highlighted. “It’s a long highway on the way to a toll road for authentication of the transaction, and when there’s too many going on the highway at the same time, they get stuck at the toll, they get jammed up,” he explained. Official data from Ethereum’s network shows average gas fees spiking to over $50 during peak periods in 2024, underscoring these limitations for retail-scale volumes.

Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) present a promising alternative by enabling parallel processing in a web-like structure, avoiding single-block queues. Networks such as Hedera and Nano utilize this architecture, achieving thousands of transactions per second at near-zero costs, according to their whitepapers. However, adoption lags behind Ethereum and Solana, which dominate with billions in daily volume per Chainalysis reports. O’Leary emphasized the need for a breakthrough: “We don’t have the technology yet… to do what I just described at scale.” Expert analysts from Deloitte predict that by 2027, DAG-based systems could capture 20% of retail crypto payments if scalability improves.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Agentic AI and How Does It Assist with Daily Retail Tasks?

Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems that perform tasks like searching, ordering, and reminding users about needs, such as restocking groceries. For instance, it can track inventory via voice inputs and compile shopping lists from retailers like Target or Amazon, alerting on sales—handling categorization and price comparisons in under a minute, as demonstrated in real-world applications shared by tech leaders.

Can Blockchain Support Millions of AI-Initiated Retail Payments Daily?

Yes, emerging technologies like Directed Acyclic Graphs in platforms such as Hedera enable parallel processing for millions of transactions per day at minimal cost, ideal for AI-driven retail. This setup avoids Ethereum’s congestion, ensuring instant confirmations even during peaks, making it perfect for voice-activated buys at cafes or big-box stores.

Key Takeaways

• AI Automation in Retail: Voice commands will simplify ordering, with AI selecting optimal nearby options based on location and preferences.
• Blockchain’s Payment Role: It will handle secure, frictionless settlements for transactions, knowing user details for seamless retail integration.
• Scalability Imperative: Investors like O’Leary seek solutions for high-volume processing; explore DAG networks to stay prepared for this evolution.

Conclusion

Kevin O’Leary’s vision of AI and blockchain revolutionizing retail payments highlights a transformative era where autonomous agents handle purchases from lattes to groceries, backed by efficient on-chain verification. As agentic AI already aids daily tasks and DAG architectures address current bottlenecks, the convergence promises unprecedented business efficiency. Published by COINOTAG on October 20, 2025—updated with latest insights. Businesses and consumers should monitor advancements to capitalize on this on-chain future, ensuring secure and swift transactions become the norm.

AI will automate most retail purchases in the future, with blockchain used to finalize payments, Shark Tank co-host and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary says.

AI and blockchain will spark the “next revolution in business,” according to multimillionaire Kevin O’Leary, with AI being able to autonomously make retail purchases and using blockchain to take care of payments.

In a three-minute video posted to X on Saturday, the Shark Tank co-host and venture capitalist said that blockchain will support an incoming wave of AI-driven transactions, handling everything from orders at Walmart and Target to burger shops and cafes:

“You simply talk to your phone and say, I want a tall, low-fat latte, please. I’m going to be there in 90 seconds. That’s it.”

“So what happens there is the AI analyzes where you are, looks at the geography of what retailer [is nearby] and determines that that’s the one, and then uses a blockchain to actually do a digital payment system for the tall low-fat latte,” explained O’Leary.

“It already knows who you are. So the retailer has your name on it when you walk in,” he added.

AI is about to collide with blockchain and change everything. Imagine ordering your coffee by voice, AI finds the café, and blockchain processes your payment instantly.
That’s the next revolution in business. Faster, smarter, fully on-chain. The question is: who builds it… pic.twitter.com/IWyTgY2tga

— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) October 19, 2025

Mr. Wonderful is waiting to find a winning solution

However, O’Leary said he hasn’t yet found a solution that can handle millions of retail transactions simultaneously at a low cost.

He said current solutions like Ethereum can’t do it because they order transactions linearly, leading to delays and expensive fees during peak traffic.

“It’s a long highway on a way to a toll road for authentication of the transaction, and when there’s too many going on the highway at the same time, they get stuck at the toll, they get jammed up.”

“So we don’t have the technology yet, with at least those… ones to do what I just described,” O’Leary added.

However, there are already solutions to the problem that O’Leary described, known as Directed Acyclic Graphs, which process transactions in a spider web-like structure rather than ordering them into single blocks.

Hedera and Nano are among the crypto solutions that use this architecture, though they have only captured a fraction of the user base seen on top chains like Ethereum and Solana.

O’Leary said he’s looking for the first project to achieve this at scale, adding: “This is a fantastic career because the Walmarts, the Targets, the burger guys need millions of transactions a day, all independent, all going through the tolls at the same time.”

Funnily, it was just last year that O’Leary criticized people for spending $5.50 on coffees and $15 on sandwiches when they could make them at home for a fraction of the price.

Agentic AI is already helping people with daily tasks

Agentic AI is already assisting people with everyday tasks, from searching and ordering to reminding people of daily tasks.

Speaking to experts, Kyle Okamoto, the chief technology officer of decentralized infrastructure platform Aethir, said his wife built an agentic AI solution to remind her when to stock up on groceries.

“She just simply talks to her agent regularly and says, ‘hey, I’m out of milk,’ and it keeps track of that and then it ultimately says, ‘hey, you run out of milk every week to eight days. You haven’t told me yet, but we should probably just add milk to your shopping list.’”

Her agentic AI can categorize items across Target, Whole Foods and Amazon, and even tracks which products are on sale, Okamoto said. “Sometimes the kids’ yogurt is going to be a dollar cheaper at Target because of a sale compared to Whole Foods.

“She doesn’t want to keep checking all these sites for the entire list, so she has the agent do it and give her price alerts.”

Now all that’s needed is a blockchain solution that handles the payment side of things, according to O’Leary.