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To put things into numerical context, within the U.S. equities market alone, an estimated 60–73% of all trading volume is driven by algorithmic strategies, and in the massive foreign exchange market, over 90% of trades are now executed electronically or via algorithms rather than human dealers.
From the outside looking in, such exponential growth can be attributed to the fact that these autonomous systems can scrutinize countless data points – prices, news, economic indicators – and act in microseconds, seizing opportunities or hedging risks faster than any human.
Perhaps more importantly, unlike human traders, they never sleep, reacting to late-night volatility or dawn-breaking news in real time. By eliminating emotional bias and sticking to predefined strategies, these agents can enhance risk management and consistency in returns.
Also, contrary to what many may believe, this trend isn’t confined to Wall Street’s quants as everyday investors too are embracing automation through robo-advisors and AI-guided funds. In the U.S., assets managed by automated investment platforms ballooned from about $200 billion in 2018 to nearly $1.1 trillion by 2024, a surge of over 400%.
 
A transition to be studied
The implications of this shift toward AI tech seem to be profound, as for retail investors, autonomous agents have provided access to strategies once reserved for elite, high-value funds. Imagine an agent allocating an individual’s savings across dozens of platforms to maximize their yield, all while they sleep.
For institutional players, agent-driven finance has changed the talent and operational model as most hedge funds and banks today are already heavily dependent on AI for an edge, with some trading desks now being rows of servers overseen by a handful of quants. The shift has enabled institutions to handle larger portfolios with greater efficiency, with one World Economic Forum report noting that “Agentic AI” has revolutionized the realm of financial services, bringing great efficiency while also demanding new governance to address volatility and accountability.
Furthermore, amidst this growth, the notion of “Xenocognitive Finance” has emerged. In essence, it describes financial systems that are capable of transcending human cognitive limits while preserving user control. One pioneer in this space has been Giza, whose vision is framed around the creation/deployment of high-quality user-centric autonomous agents.
Giza’s approach recognizes that decentralization needn’t come at the price of unbearable complexity. Instead, it introduces AI agents as a trust-minimized interface – a way to absorb complexity on behalf of users without re-centralizing power.
A pioneering approach to autonomous finance
In contrast to earlier automation tools that were either centralized or too simplistic, Giza emphasizes both sophistication and decentralization. To achieve this, Giza has developed a modular infrastructure with three key layers working in concert. First is the Semantic Abstraction Layer, which acts as a translation engine between human financial intent, AI reasoning, and blockchain execution.
Next is the Smart Account (Agent Authorization) Layer, which is all about secure control. Giza employs a smart account infrastructure (following the new ERC-7579 standard) that gives the agent limited, programmable permissions to act, without ever handing over the ownership of funds. For example, a user can authorize an agent to perform only specific actions, like shifting funds between certain lending pools, with strict limits. These permissions are time-bound and scoped, enforced by the smart contract wallet itself. Crucially, the agent’s keys cannot withdraw funds to an external account; they can only execute within the allowed parameters.
Finally, there’s the Decentralized Execution Layer, which provides the trustless backbone for running these agents at scale. Specifically, it integrates with EigenLayer’s restaking framework – an innovative system where independent operators stake tokens as collateral to perform computations and uphold network tasks. If they deviate or act maliciously, they stand to lose their collateral.
In this broader context, one can see that Giza’s flagship autonomous agent, known as ARMA, has executed 100,000+ autonomous financial transactions, delivering a positive P&L on every realized trade. Furthermore, over April, ARMA agents delivered an APR of 8.3% on their stablecoin investments.
Recent metrics associated with ARMA (source: X)
The implications are huge!
The broader significance of offerings like Giza’s ARMA is hard to ignore. Suppose one agent can manage stablecoins so effectively. In that case, the door opens to a whole ecosystem of specialized agents (such as trading, asset allocation, risk management, and each tirelessly working for its users). Giza’s pioneering work in Xenocognitive demonstrates that the traders of tomorrow might not be humans yelling “buy!” or “sell!” but relatively secure AI agents carrying out the intent of their operators, quietly optimizing in the background, and fundamentally reshaping finance from the ground up.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/how-xenocognitive-is-empowering-a-new-era-of-market-participation/