The WTO predicts that AI will drive global trade to rise by 34%-37% by 2040, with insights into the underlying mechanisms and investments.

[Chain Text] The latest “2025 World Trade Report” released by the WTO throws out a heavy prediction: assuming supporting policies keep up, what can AI do in the next 15 years?

From a numerical perspective, it looks quite impressive – by 2040, cross-border goods and services trade is expected to grow by 34% to 37%, and global GDP growth can reach 12% to 13%. In other words, AI is not just about improving production efficiency; it can also significantly reduce trade costs and streamline global commerce.

But this growth will not happen automatically. The report emphasizes three key points: first, the digital infrastructure gap must be bridged, and the disparity between developed and developing countries cannot be too large; second, skill training must keep pace, otherwise the distribution of AI dividends will be uneven; third, the trade environment must remain open and predictable, which is crucial for global liquidity.

For cryptocurrency practitioners, this reflects a larger context—the global economy is accelerating its digitization and connectivity, which is why DeFi and cross-chain protocols have garnered so much attention in the past two years. In the long run, this evolution of economic structure will reshape the flow of capital.