As AI agents take on more responsibility, and especially as the convergence between crypto and TradFi accelerates, worries around transparency and market manipulation will grow. DLT offers a solution. The Identity Management Institute reported companies that integrated blockchain identity systems have already cut fraud by 40% and identity theft by 50%. Applying these guardrails to AI-driven finance can counter manipulation and promote fairness. Moreover, the use of DLTs with fair ordering is growing rapidly, ensuring transactions are sequenced fairly and unpredictably, addressing MEV concerns and promoting trust in decentralized systems. A blockchain-powered, trust-centric model could unlock a new paradigm, “DeFAI”, in which autonomous agents can operate freely without sacrificing oversight. Open-source protocols like ElizaOS, which have blockchain plugins, are already enabling secure and compliant AI interactions between agents across DeFi ecosystems. As AI agents take on more complex roles, verifiable trust becomes non-negotiable. Verifiable compute solutions are already being built by firms like EQTY Lab, Intel and Nvidia to anchor trust on-chain. DLT ensures transparency, accountability and traceability. This is already in motion; on-chain agents are now operating that offer services ranging from trade execution to predictive analytics.