AI Drives Crypto Payments And Economic Disruption

Citrini Research published a Feb. 2026 memo imagining a June 2028 economy where AI boosts measured productivity, triggers widespread layoffs, and causes consumer demand to collapse. It warns S&P flirted with 8,000 and Nasdaq passed 30,000 before joblessness hit 10.2%, mortgages totaling about $13 trillion were exposed, and commerce increasingly settled in stablecoins on high-throughput chains like Solana and Ethereum.