Blockchain, DeFi and AI: Economic Systems, Intelligent Agents, and Mechanism Design

Blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) have transformed digital economic systems by enabling transparent, programmable, and trust-minimized interactions. At the same time, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models and multi-agent systems, are introducing a new class of economic participants: autonomous and semi-autonomous agents. These developments are reshaping how value is created, exchanged, and governed in digital environments. However, existing research often treats blockchain, DeFi, and AI as separate domains, leaving a gap in understanding their combined impact on economic behavior, market structure, and system stability. There is a growing need for a unified framework that integrates data-driven analysis, economic modeling, and intelligent system design.

This Research Topic aims to address a central challenge: how to model, understand, and design economic systems in which AI agents actively participate alongside humans in blockchain-based environments. We seek contributions that investigate the behavioral dynamics of AI agents, their interactions with human participants, and their implications for market efficiency, liquidity, and systemic risk. Particular attention will be given to how AI-driven strategies reshape decentralized markets, influence governance processes, and alter traditional incentive structures. This Topic also aims to advance new methodologies, including data-driven modeling, multi-agent simulation, and AI-assisted mechanism design, to better capture the complexity of emerging digital economies. By bringing together perspectives from economics, computer science, and finance, this collection will provide both theoretical insights and practical frameworks for the design of robust, efficient, and secure digital economic systems. Ultimately, the goal is to move from descriptive analysis toward predictive modeling and mechanism optimization in AI-integrated financial ecosystems.

This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, and methodological contributions at the intersection of blockchain, DeFi, and AI. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- AI agents in economic systems and decentralized markets;
- Human–AI interaction and coordination in financial decision-making;
- Mechanism design and incentive structures in DeFi protocols;
- Multi-agent modeling and simulation of digital economies;
- Token economics and market microstructure analysis;
- AI-driven trading strategies and market dynamics;
- Governance mechanisms and decentralized decision-making;
- Data-driven approaches using on-chain and off-chain data;
- Impact of AI on the safety of DeFi smart contracts.

Submissions combining theoretical modeling, empirical analysis, and computational methods are particularly encouraged. Interdisciplinary contributions bridging economics, finance, and AI are highly valued.


Dr. Yulin Liu is the director of Swiss Quantum Economics AI Lab, which conducts research and consulting in areas including quantum finance, AI economics, blockchain network analysis, and decentralized finance.

Dr. Robert Lauko is the founder of Kurate.org, a platform that uses AI to rank papers by scientific impact. He is also the founder of Liquity, a protocol that has launched decentralized stablecoins.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), artificial intelligence (AI), multi-agent systems, token economics, mechanism design, digital economy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.