Key Takeaways:
Amazon launched AI agents and Tools, a new virtual store hosted on its Amazon Web Services platform.
AI agents are being used to automate crypto portfolio management tasks like tracking wallets and executing yield strategies.
One expert says the marketplace is enterprise-focused, with pricing and access barriers limiting adoption for everyday users.
AI agents have been all the rage in recent months, and Amazon has just started selling these artificially intelligent autonomous assistants on its marketplace to anyone who can afford it. What could go wrong?
A lot, actually, at least as far as data protection and privacy are concerned.
“The real concern here is opacity,” Sean Ren, the co-founder of AI-native blockchain ecosystem Sahara AI, told Cryptonews, noting that the agents on Amazon Web Services are built for enterprise use, not consumer apps.
“When an agent runs on a closed platform like Amazon’s, it’s hard to know how data flows between the model provider, the infrastructure layer, and the application itself,” he explained, adding:
“Enterprises need to audit how these agents handle sensitive inputs, and consumers should be asking more questions about where their data ends up and who has access to it before using any kind of [AI] agent.”
On July 16, Amazon announced the launch of AI agents and Tools, a new virtual store hosted on its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.
The marketplace allows enterprise customers to buy agents sold by the likes of Anthropic, IBM, Perplexity, Accenture, and other vendors. So far, the store boasts more than 800 artificially intelligent agent offerings.
Amazon says it will provide the digital infrastructure needed to deploy the AI agents in a safe and effective way, including relevant databases, third-party governance software solutions, as well as IT support, according to industry media reports.
This is meant to ensure that the AI agents align with the systems already running within the company. Amazon also revealed Bedrock AgentCore, a new feature built to facilitate the implementation process for new agents.
“AI agents will change how we all work and live,” Swami Sivasubramanian, AWS vice president of Agentic AI, said in a blog post after the launch.
He cited drug-maker AstraZeneca, Yahoo Finance, and Syngenta, saying the three firms have “transformed” their respective sectors using agentic AI.
AI Agents Arms Race
AI agents are a class of artificial intelligence that, unlike popular conversational chatbots like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, go beyond text generation to perform tasks on behalf of users, mostly independently.
The agents can do all sorts of stuff on the blockchain: make decisions, tailor interactions, enter deals, represent companies, and manage workflows, all with or without minimal human supervision.
AI agents can also interact with websites, fill out forms, make payments, and even carry out airdrops. With its new store, Amazon joins a growing trend across cloud providers offering marketplaces tailored to AI agents.
In May, Microsoft introduced its Agent Store within Microsoft 365 Copilot. Similarly, Google Cloud has also launched its own AI Agent Marketplace.
What’s in It for the Regular User?
Ren’s concerns about data security risks are framed within the context of Amazon’s corporate-heavy focus, a thrust common with all major U.S. tech companies.
The Sahara AI cofounder is not only worried about the centralization of AI tools and infrastructure, but also about how the AI agents could be priced for enterprise users only, restricting access for the everyday AI consumer.
“This launch won’t mean much to regular consumers, at least not right away,” Ren, who is also a professor at the University of Southern California focusing on AI research, said in response to questions from Cryptonews.
“Amazon’s AI agent marketplace, like most others launched by big tech, is built for enterprises, not individuals,” he explained, adding:
“And the agents will likely be priced accordingly, often requiring cloud subscriptions or usage minimums that make them inaccessible to consumers or independent developers experimenting with AI.”
Ren pointed out, “If marketplaces like this continue to be locked behind enterprise walls, we risk creating a system where only well-resourced companies can build and deploy agents at scale.”
Image: AWS
Not everyone shares Ren’s perspective. Cryptonews spoke to four other experts who, with borderline caution, showed enthusiasm for the AWS AI virtual store and how this could change the retail user’s experience with AI. Here is what they said:
Kony Kwong, CEO of GAIB, a company that’s building the economic layer for artificial intelligence on-chain, said:
“They [AWS] are giving millions of people access to specialized AI that doesn’t just answer questions, but takes action. Agents will likely shop for us, manage our calendars, handle support tickets, or rebalance our DeFi positions. This is the consumerization of autonomous execution.”
J.D Seraphine, founder and CEO of AI ecosystem Raiinmaker, said:
“For everyday consumers, it means going from asking questions to having a digital co-pilot that can make decisions, take actions, and tailor its behavior to your life. But the real shift isn’t just technical, it’s cultural. We’re moving from ‘using AI’ to living with it.”
But he raised questions about data security, too.
“The challenge isn’t whether they [AI agents] work, it’s whether they work in ways that respect human agency, protect data and promote transparency. AI should amplify human intelligence, not outsource it.”
Lisa Loud, the CEO of DeFi data platform Fluidefi, believes “Amazon’s AI agent marketplace will make individual AI truly mainstream.”
“Soon, the average user will interact with AI not just through a search bar or chatbot, but through agents that are always present in their lives. That’s pretty powerful.”
However, Loud is worried that “without proper safeguards, it [Amazon AI store] could turn everyday convenience into everyday surveillance.”
Carson Farmer, chief technology officer at AI agent platform Recall Labs, said: “This means users are about to be bombarded with new AI agent tools, apps, and experiences.”
Can AI Agents Manage Crypto Portfolios?
AI agents are becoming essential tools for managing real-time financial decisions, especially in crypto, where speed and precision matter. But can the agents help retail crypto investors manage their portfolios better?
“100 percent,” Brian Huang, cofounder of crypto investment startup Glider, told Cryptonews. “We’re moving into a world of truly programmable finance.”
Apart from lowering “the barrier to entry for crypto investing,” Huang said, “AI agents can consider hundreds of variables in parallel,” noting:
“Agents can take into account long-term plans like buying a home and saving for retirement, but also short-term plans like spending habits to construct optimal crypto portfolios.”
Describing agents as ‘autonomous crypto co-pilots,’ GAIB’s Kwong said the AIs can track user wallets, move funds across chains, execute yield strategies, and rebalance portfolios based on market shifts or risk levels.
He stated that this unlocks “always-on portfolio optimization,” allowing users to maintain their crypto investments without constant oversight. Citing the volatility of a meme coin, Kwong explains the benefit:
“Overnight, its value can crash. This could mean that while you sleep, you could suffer significant financial loss. However, if your agent acts on your behalf, it could sell as soon as it sees a market downturn and mitigate the losses that would have been incurred.”
Farmer, the Recall Labs CTO, spoke about the practical use of agents in day-to-day crypto management. He said the AIs are effective for “tasks that are repetitive, time-sensitive, or involve complex data parsing.”
Tasks such as monitoring on-chain activity, surfacing portfolio risks, and executing dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategies fall within their core strengths, according to Farmer.
Agents Won’t Turn Users Into Top-Tier Traders
Ren, the Sahara AI cofounder, warned that while AI agents can help retail users with tracking multiple crypto wallets or identifying risk, they “won’t turn someone into a top-tier trader overnight.”
“The reality is, the most sophisticated crypto strategies involve MEV strategies and infrastructure, proprietary data pipelines, and ultra-low-latency execution. Retail investors won’t replicate that with an AI agent alone.”
For Ren, any help retail users could get from AI agents will not come from enterprise marketplaces like AWS. It’s got to be from decentralized alternatives, and there are already a few supporting such tasks.
Agents listed on AWS…” are built to optimize business processes through actions like automating support, enhancing internal tools, or integrating into enterprise systems [not to monitor] your DeFi yields,” he says.
Research firm Gartner estimates that up to 50% of all business decisions will be at least partially automated by agents by 2027.
The post Amazon Now Sells AI Agents On Its Marketplace. What It Means for You appeared first on Cryptonews.
