When an agent can pay
Giving an agent limited spending power lets it complete routine purchases without surrendering human control over consequential payments.
Developed from a conversation between Pete Winn, Piers Cockram and Andy David
An agent that compares flights is still only an adviser if a person must complete the purchase. Give it a wallet and it becomes a delegate that can finish the job. Piers has used agents to pay invoices, move Bitcoin and eCash, and order a bar of soap for home delivery from a natural-language request.
The principle is delegated financial authority. Pete compared two personal assistants, one who can only recommend a flight and another who can buy it. Piers extended the analogy to a company with 10,000 employees. If its chief executive had to approve every expense and transaction, the business could not function. Agents offer individuals the same ability to hand off routine financial decisions that wealthy people and large organisations already delegate to others.
Delegation does not require giving an agent final authority over every payment. For a consequential Bitcoin spend, the agent can prepare a partially signed transaction and present it as a QR code. The person scans it with a hardware wallet, checks the full transaction details, approves it and broadcasts it through a phone. The agent handles the preparation while the person retains control of the keys and the final decision.