Alex Svanevik: Nansen combines on-chain analytics and trade execution, AI agents will revolutionize transaction processes, and the future of investing is agency and independent.

Important takeaways

• Nansen integrates on-chain analytics and transaction processing to streamline user experience.
• The future of investing will involve interactive and agency trading experiences.
• AI agents can simplify transaction processes by performing multiple tasks with a simple command.
• Nansen charges competitive fees that are the same or lower than other platforms.
• Users are expected to become more comfortable with AI agents handling transactions over time.
• Nansen users are sophisticated and expect lower fees and better prices.
• The emergence of trading will involve independent agents managing investments.
• Many investors prefer a passive investment approach to active portfolio management.
• User experience in crypto is currently low and needs to be improved.
• The infrastructure in crypto is now ready to build world-class products.
• Nansen caters mainly to individual investors trading on-chain.
• Nansen’s strength lies in labeling addresses to track the activities of key market players.
• Opportunities exist in the chain if the data is analyzed successfully.
• Nansen’s goal is to reveal signals and create winners in the crypto space.
• The nature of the Ethereum platform allows the creation of various applications, driving its value.

Guest introduction

Alex Svanevik is the founder and CEO of Nansen, a crypto intelligence platform that enriches on-chain data with millions of wallet labels. Prior to Nansen, he served as Chief Data Scientist at CoinFi and Manager of Data Science at Schibsted Media Group. He holds an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh.

The integration of mathematics and commerce

• Nansen integrates on-chain analytics and transaction processing to improve the user experience.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The platform allows users to research, discover, and act on a single product.

• We’ve basically taken this work in-house which means you can do all your investing on-chain and trade within the same product.

  – Alex Svanevik

• This combination sets Nansen apart from its competitors by providing a unique feature.
• The future of investing will involve agency-based and interactive trading experiences.

• The idea is that we are creating a new way of trading that is compatible with the agent and is integrated into one product.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The user experience of trading with Nansen is described as ‘magical’.

• It is a good work of magic in my humble opinion.

  – Alex Svanevik

AI agents and transaction processes

• AI agents simplify transaction processes by performing multiple tasks with a simple command.

• We really want to hook that first user when you just ask them to do some sort of simple tasks.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The use of AI can improve the user experience in trading by simplifying the process.
• Nansen charges competitive fees that are the same or lower than other platforms.

• We actually don’t mark down all the prices you can get through an aggregator.

  – Alex Svanevik

• This pricing strategy positions Nansen well against competitors in the market.
• Users are expected to become more comfortable with AI agents handling transactions over time.

• I think that over time many people will be comfortable trading in a new way.

  – Alex Svanevik

User expectations and market orientation

• Nansen product users are more sophisticated and expect lower fees and better prices.

• Our users… are probably more sophisticated than the average investor.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The emergence of trading will involve independent agents managing investments.

• I think the long-term vision… is actually that more agents can do things independently.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Many people prefer passive investing to managing their portfolios.

• It is clear that there is a need for more investment that can go beyond buying bitcoin.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The agent creates a chain abstraction, simplifying the user experience in on-chain transactions.

• The agent almost creates what you can think of as a chain release.

  – Alex Svanevik

Current challenges and future potential

• The user experience of on-chain trading is currently poor due to inadequate infrastructure.

• We have to admit that the user experience of chain trading is pretty rubbish.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The infrastructure in crypto is now good enough to build world-class products and user experiences.

• But now I think the infrastructure is good enough to build truly world-class products.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Nansen caters mainly to individual investors trading on-chain.

• The primary user we always focus on is the dgen type of individual investor.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Nansen’s strength lies in labeling addresses to help users track on-chain activity.

• Address writing is one of our core strengths.

  – Alex Svanevik

On-chain opportunities and company activity

• There are opportunities in the chain if you know how to analyze data effectively.

• If you actually use the knowledge of what is happening on-chain you can have an edge.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The company’s mission is to signal and create winners in the crypto space.

• The main thing has always been the same, that we want to put out a signal and build winners.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The nature of the Ethereum platform allows the creation of various applications, which can drive its value.

• I like that it’s a platform because that means people can build things on the platform.

  – Alex Svanevik

• If a successful currency is developed, it will likely be built on Ethereum.

• I thought that if someone finds out there is a good chance that they will build that money in Ethereum.

  – Alex Svanevik

The impact of AI on individual investors

• AI will greatly benefit individual investors by providing advanced decision-making tools.

• My view is that the benefits of AI will accrue to individual investors.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The diverse nature of the crypto market allows individual investors to find unique opportunities.

• There’s a lot going on in crypto and it’s so diverse that everyone can have an alpha.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Chain trade activity is expected to increase significantly due to improved infrastructure.

• It just seems to me that you know that’s a wonderful arrangement for individual investors.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Many of the existing trading tools are inadequate and can lead to huge losses for users.

• There are a lot of downsides out there and I think a lot of people will frankly lose money.

  – Alex Svanevik

Improving AI trading processes

• AI improves the trading process by making it easier and more efficient for users.

• If you have a process that is incredibly well-oiled a lot of AI I think people will trade more.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Trading activity will increase as the user experience improves, especially with token assets.

• All these things will have a lot of work in my opinion.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The crypto market will experience a Cambrian explosion of various tokens due to the lowering of entry barriers.

• You will see a forest like the Cambrian explosion of all kinds of different tokens.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The opportunity to trade everything in chains with AI represents one of the biggest opportunities in technology.

• This opportunity that we have in front of us to allow people to trade everything in chains with AI is like in my opinion one of the biggest opportunities in the history of technology.

  – Alex Svanevik

Future opportunities and technological developments

• There is a significant opportunity to develop software that frees marketers from being glued to their screens.

• I actually think one of the biggest opportunities not just for crypto but as software in general is to free people from those screens.

  – Alex Svanevik

• There is a significant opportunity to create new ways of working and investing that enable users to use mobile.

• I’m very happy with the idea that they can be out in the real world touching the grass but then feel like they’re taking action with their portfolio.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Voice as a user interface will be an important and underutilized opportunity in the future.

• I think there’s an opportunity to create new ways of doing things… and I have a lot of strength in voice as a user interface.

  – Alex Svanevik

• We will see significant improvements in user experience and software interactions in the near future.

• It looks like we’re going to see a lot of great things in the coming months… in terms of how you experience software.

  – Alex Svanevik

Security and infrastructure in trade

• The Nansen wallet is a self-contained wallet that allows users to manage their private keys.

• The way it works right now to be very clear on that is that there is an embedded wallet that we call the Nansen wallet.

  – Alex Svanevik

• There is a huge opportunity to create a better infrastructure for secure and potentially decentralized trading agents.

• I think this is a very interesting question… I think there is a really big opportunity to create a good infrastructure for secure agents maybe even decentralized.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Vulnerable trading agents can happen by stealing the private key or by tampering with the agent’s instructions.

• There are actually two ways to risk an agent trading as one to steal the private key.

  – Alex Svanevik

• The infrastructure for secure automated trading is not yet fully developed, which is why we are cautious moving forward.

• This is actually part of the reason why we haven’t gone directly into this yet because we want to make sure that the infrastructure is in place to support this type of workflow in a secure way for users.

  – Alex Svanevik

Testing commercial agents and user trust

• Users should approach commercial agents carefully and check them for a small fee.

• I think it’s a good idea if you test these products if they have the potential to trade if you like to start with a small amount of money.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Evaluating the performance of trading agents involves assessing their ability to understand the purpose of trading.

• How good it is at understanding the trading intent as it understands your order and puts it into the right kind of activity.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Brand trust plays an important role in consumer choice within the crypto space.

• I think trust in the product also matters if something you’ve never heard of comes out, of course you should pay more attention.

  – Alex Svanevik

• Transparent real-time metrics can improve the trust and evaluation of AI agents.

• What I’d like to do is get to a point where we have real-time metrics that are transparent about how our agent is doing.

  – Alex Svanevik