Research
The Evolution of Exchange: From Barter Friction to Decentralized AI Infrastructures
Why every technology that cuts transaction costs breeds new intermediaries, and how protocol-level AI could free commerce from platform control.
The Evolution of Exchange: From Barter Friction to Decentralized AI Infrastructures. A conceptual and historical analysis of how technologies that reduce transaction costs repeatedly generate new forms of intermediation and market power, and how AI-mediated commerce may be reorganized through protocol-level infrastructures that decouple discovery from platform control.
To cite this research
Linton, J. D. (2026). “The Evolution of Exchange: From Barter Friction to Decentralized AI Infrastructures”. ClarityAILab Research Series. https://www.clarityailab.com/insights/evolution-of-exchange-barter-to-decentralized-ai-infrastructure/