Analysis: Crypto is becoming the default payment layer for AI agents, highlighting the advantages of stablecoins.

According to a recent report by Odaily Odaily, crypto market maker and investment firm Keyrock points out that as traditional bank card payment systems struggle to meet the demands of micropayments, blockchain-based stablecoin payment tracks are gradually becoming the default payment layer for AI Agents. The report shows that between May 2025 and April 2026, AI Agent completed more than 176 million transactions through on-chain infrastructure, with a settlement scale of over US$73 million. "Agentic Payments" refers to AI software's ability to autonomously purchase data, computing power, APIs, or AI services without requiring manual authorization for each transaction. For example, an AI trading agent can continuously and automatically purchase market data, cloud computing resources, or AI analytics services. Keyrock believes this growth rate may even surpass the early explosive growth phase of stablecoins. Currently, Coinbase's x402 protocol has become one of the leading crypto-native machine payment solutions, allowing AI agents to use USDC to directly pay for on-chain analytics, cloud services, and other resources without the need for an account or subscription system. Data shows that approximately 76% of AI Agent payments are below the 30-cent fixed fee threshold common for traditional bank cards, with most transactions ranging from 1 to 10 cents. Therefore, traditional payment networks are not suitable for inter-machine micro-payments. On chains like Base and Tempo, however, stablecoin settlement costs are less than one cent. However, regulation may still be a limiting factor for industry growth. The report points out that new regulatory frameworks, including Europe's MiCA, the US GENIUS Act, and the EU's AI Act, do not yet directly cover key issues such as autonomous trading, liability attribution, and identity verification for AI agents. (CoinDesk)