How can AI-Fi financial chips and the post-singularity global finance with Openclaw avoid being left behind?

Author: Gary Yang, Founding Partner of Xinghan Capital

Since the outbreak of Openclaw in mid-January, except for the four days at the Hong Kong Consensus conference, I have almost declined all external activities, including online spaces and 90% of offline meetings, relying solely on code and agent interactions to face what is arguably the greatest singularity in human history. I also aim to keep this article brief and to the point, discussing current issues as concisely as possible, as time after the singularity will be very limited for everyone.

Written in London on February 24, 2026

tl;dr

1. The engineering and historical significance of Openclaw

2. AI-Fi and financial chips

3. Disruption of global finance and the collapse of social management

4. Panic caused by multi-level information asymmetry and lack of consensus

5. The sequence of singularities after the singularity

6. Fundamental changes in global geopolitical foundations

1. The engineering and historical significance of Openclaw

Engineering significance of Openclaw:

Openclaw is not just an intelligent algorithm; it is a framework based on integrating memory files into intelligent tools. I’ve seen many explanations online, but none are precise enough. Here, I summarize it into seven layers:

• Layer 1 (Infra): Hardware devices or cloud infrastructure—the foundational layer
• Layer 2 (OS): Operating systems like Linux, iOS, Windows
• Layer 3 (DevOps): CI/CD platforms above the system layer, such as GitHub; deployment here is highly specific
• Layer 4 (Skills): The organ layer—AI’s brain, limbs, and capabilities like listening, speaking, reading, writing, with LLMs loaded here
• Layer 5 (Memory, md): The core value of Openclaw and what distinguishes it from standard LLM tools
• Layer 6 (Jobs): Agent layer—focusing on task division among AI tools or small teams managing agents
• Layer 7 (Apps): Daily task logic and queues for different functional agents/bots

As the Openclaw official states, markdown memory files are its core value. A simple distillation of the memory layer enables AI agents with long-term operational capacity. Just a few kilobytes of data can, at this historic juncture, drive a dramatic singularity transformation.

Historical significance of Openclaw:

From a mesoscopic perspective, Openclaw will accelerate the exponential explosion of AI productivity, transforming all industries globally. It will no longer be limited to translation, law, design, or coding—more complex, non-standard work such as auditing, finance, engineering management, and business management will also be rapidly replaced and upgraded. Simultaneously, as robots develop quickly in parallel and combine with microcontrollers, most physical labor tasks will be easily taken over. On a macro level, the singularity triggered by Openclaw will mark the transition from human labor to silicon-based labor. Human roles in society will be fundamentally changed much faster than we imagine, and civilization will enter a new phase.

Returning to reality in Q1 2026, a small cluster of 12 Linux-based bots has achieved universal applicability across various industries. Simply put, agents are categorized into three types: one manages collaboration and code, another handles information and thinking, and the third oversees business and finance. Over more than a month, like many others, I have been oscillating between excitement and fear—believing that in no time, all business models will be upgraded and overturned.

2. AI-Fi and financial chips

At the Hong Kong conference two weeks ago, I mentioned to Mr. Shen that I had written an article three years ago titled Principles of Financial Circuits and Web3 Economic Models. I was excited to say that what I once thought would take 30 years to realize now, with Openclaw’s support, could be achieved this year.

The principle of financial circuits refers to the rapid iteration of digital financial derivatives driven by Web3 and crypto, similar to how electronic components like resistors and capacitors evolved rapidly in the 20th century. They are no longer just single-function devices but quickly evolve into complex system combinations, forming integrated products akin to circuit boards or chips, with financial effects that single functions cannot achieve. Financial chips are the ultimate result of this process.

When AI-driven algorithmic components can make effective, flexible, and long-term self-evolving decisions based on massive data, we can encapsulate them into virtual digital chips—like FPGA or microcontrollers—via crypto smart contracts on DeFi, creating super financial decision-making bodies. These digital decision bodies, or financial chips, will eventually operate without human intervention, balancing costs like burning keys/gas with asset profitability, becoming autonomous intelligent financial products with independent value.

Compared to Web4.0 or DeFi3.0, I believe AI-Fi is a more precise term. As AI rapidly enables agents to develop independent working capabilities, our understanding of financial products and the industry must undergo a fundamental transformation. The inertia of traditional Wall Street and finance will be completely overturned. Quantitative strategies based on single algorithms will be phased out; success in finance will depend not just on handling vast data and parameter changes but on the ability to innovate and rapidly adjust algorithms and strategies. Only AI agents combined with crypto smart contracts—superintelligent financial assets—will be suited for the next era of finance.

3. Disruption of global finance and the collapse of social management

In my article DeFi 2.0 Explosion Under Disordered Reorganization in 2026 last year, I mentioned “the waning of traditional financial inertia and the failure of society under strict data regulation.” Simply put, the upgrade of digital production relations via crypto has already posed a significant challenge to the existing environment.

Following Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), announced on January 19, 2026, that NYSE is developing a tokenized securities platform supporting 24/7 trading, seeking SEC approval. New York’s response to last year’s crypto digital shock remains impressive—far ahead of other hesitant global players. Yet, even so, policies and most people’s ingrained understanding still struggle to adapt to this change.

What’s terrifying is that the upgrade of AI digital productivity’s destructive power has further torn apart traditional finance and society, elevating the disruption caused by crypto to a new level. If last year’s situation was described as the waning of the old, this year is a complete upheaval and disintegration. Unlike any previous historical shift, the exponential force brought by AI + crypto leaves no room for old doctrines or retreat. It’s a “Go Fast or Go Home” moment.

4. Panic caused by multi-level information asymmetry and lack of consensus

It’s both interesting and sad that in this environment, everyone is constantly switching between FOMO and FUD, driven by entirely different reasons. Most seek confidence in their particular focus area, yet they are fully aware that under the AI + crypto tsunami, such efforts are futile.

For example, the Hong Kong Consensus conference in early February 2026 was a complete lack of consensus: no agreement on bullish or bearish outlooks, compliance, credit, or value; the only consensus was that AI-driven disruption post-Openclaw created mismatched consensus among participants.

Due to the simultaneous occurrence of multi-level, multi-structure drastic changes, the speed at which different countries and industries acquire, understand, digest, and respond to information varies greatly. Consequently, in 2026, the world will enter an ultra-high-speed development phase marked by chaos and lack of consensus. The rapid technological progress, coupled with cultural differences, has already caused panic that affects various financial assets and future expectations—more chaotic than the Great Depression of 1929 and its aftermath. Moreover, the disruptive power and speed of AI + crypto far surpass industrial automation and electronics, making gold and safe-haven assets’ roles in the 20th century entirely different today. Currently, we must consider not only risk hedging in turbulent times but also the danger of falling irreversibly behind. Relying solely on safe-haven strategies in an exponential upheaval is itself highly risky.

5. The sequence of singularities after the singularity

Under an exponential growth curve, what happens once the critical singularity is surpassed? It’s bound to be a series of increasingly dense singularities.

After installing my first Openclaw agent on January 20, I asked it: “Suppose I give you a mechanical surgical device, can you operate it to perform surgery?” My agent replied that after confirming all external devices, it would need to simulate training for a period to install the surgical program driver before it could perform surgery.

Beyond the widespread adoption of intelligent robots and mechanical devices, and the AI-Fi financial chips mentioned earlier, many other directions are likely to emerge—no need to elaborate here. As I said, time is limited. I believe the most important thing now is to understand the value of time and how to respond efficiently within this extremely limited window. I cannot confirm whether, once the world’s development timeline is turned upside down, we can find a response mechanism or methodology to ride the exponential curve without being left behind. But one thing is clear: all previous fixed paradigms and most methodologies will become invalid before the singularity.

6. Fundamental changes in global geopolitical foundations

In previous articles, I mentioned that global geopolitical conflicts will not unfold as traditional civilizational clashes or Thucydides traps based on historical patterns.

If crypto finance and stablecoins have broken the management mechanisms of nation-states by challenging control through digital open economies—because their value propositions are too different—then this singularity of AI will further reverse this trend, creating a new rupture that catches different countries and regions off guard. In the chaos of unmanageable and unacceptable disruptions, competition will intensify.

In other words, the open environment demanded by crypto open finance does not satisfy many countries’ regulatory frameworks from the same perspective. While some consensus on restrictions has been found, the borderless openness required by AI development quickly shatters this fragile consensus, plunging into a fiercely competitive race. The speed at which this gap widens will be the fastest in history. When nations and regions face the risk of being left behind forever, the strength of their adherence to fundamental principles will become a major challenge, potentially reshaping the new geopolitical landscape and causing divergent fates among different peoples.