The capabilities of artificial intelligence have transcended simple responses, writing, or analysis, and it has begun to engage in payments. In this new economy driven by autonomous agents, cryptocurrency has almost naturally become the infrastructure. According to Keyrock, these agents completed over $73 million in settlements across 176 million transactions from May 2025 to April 2026. Although this signal remains faint, it cannot be ignored.
AI Agents Open New Frontiers for Crypto Payments
This figure may seem insignificant compared to the massive transaction volumes of Visa, Mastercard, or traditional banks, but it conveys another message. It indicates that a machine economy is beginning to operate according to its own needs, pace, and constraints.
An AI agent does not require a traditional bank credit card when purchasing API calls, reserving computing power, or paying for microservices. What it needs is a fast, programmable, and low-cost settlement method. This is where cryptocurrency demonstrates its concrete practicality.
Stablecoins Become Practical Currency for Machines
In this context, USDC leads with its outstanding performance. According to relevant data, over 98% of AI agent settlements use Circle's stablecoin USDC. This is not merely a technical preference; it has almost become a structural dependency.
This dominance validates the effectiveness of using stablecoins in an automated economy, but it also exposes potential risks. If the ecosystem heavily relies on a single issuer, systemic risk increases. Should USDC face regulatory issues, technical disruptions, or loss of trust, it could disrupt a significant portion of this new economy.
Behind Innovation, a Battle for Infrastructure is Brewing
Although this market is not yet large, major companies view it as the highway of the future economy. Companies like Coinbase, Stripe, Google, and Visa are developing or exploring infrastructure capable of managing autonomous payments between software. This competition is not only about AI agents but also about the payment layer that sustains their operation.
In this logic, cryptocurrency is no longer merely an alternative to traditional finance but has become the technological cornerstone of a more automated internet. AI agents can interact with Web3 protocols, initiate tokens, execute transactions, pay service fees, and manage wallets according to preset rules.
However, this progress raises a subtle question: when autonomous agents make payments, trade, or interact with protocols, who is responsible? Is it the user? The developer? The platform? Or the smart contract? As the autonomy of agents increases, the boundaries between tools, economic entities, and operational risks will become increasingly blurred.