CoinDesk
AI agents settled more than $73 million across roughly 176 million blockchain transactions between May 2025 and April 2026, according to a new report from crypto market-maker Keyrock. The volume remains negligible against traditional finance — Visa alone processes $14.5 trillion a year — but the report argues the significance sits in the speed of the infrastructure build-out, not the headline number.
Why it matters
Nearly all of that activity — 98.6% — settles in USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle (CRCL), a concentration that cements Circle's role in agentic payments but also exposes the stack to single-issuer risk. The economics explain why crypto rails are winning the segment: 76% of agent transactions fall below the 30-cent fixed-fee floor common in card payments, and most cluster between one and 10 cents. Stablecoin settlement on chains like Base and Tempo costs fractions of a cent, making traditional card networks impractical for software agents buying data, inference or API access in tiny increments.
The competitive field is already crowded. Coinbase's x402 protocol lets agents pay for blockchain analytics and cloud services in USDC without accounts or subscriptions. Stripe launched a competing framework called Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) on its Tempo blockchain. Google introduced AP2, a delegated-authorization system for AI spending, while Visa extended its card network with tokenized credentials for machine-driven commerce. Forward forecasts from Gartner project AI agents could intermediate $15 trillion in purchases by 2028; McKinsey estimates retail agentic commerce could reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030 — growth rates the report says would outpace stablecoins' own breakout years.
Market impact
The regulatory layer has not caught up. MiCA, the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU AI Act all take effect around mid-2026, yet none directly address autonomous machine-to-machine transactions, agent liability or identity. For Circle, the USDC concentration is a near-term tailwind: deepening integration with x402, Stripe's Tempo and Visa's tokenized rails positions USDC as the de facto settlement token for the agent economy.
Frequently asked questions
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How much did AI agents settle on blockchain in the past year?
Keyrock estimates AI agents settled more than $73 million across roughly 176 million blockchain transactions between May 2025 and April 2026. The figure remains a tiny fraction of traditional payments — Visa alone processes $14.5 trillion annually.
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Why are AI agents using stablecoins instead of card payments?
76% of agent transactions fall below the 30-cent fixed-fee floor common in card networks, and most cluster between one and 10 cents. Stablecoin settlement on chains like Base and Tempo costs fractions of a cent, making card rails uneconomic for automated software agents buying data, inference or API access in tiny…
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What share of agent payments settle in USDC?
98.6% of machine payments settle in USDC, according to the Keyrock report. The concentration deepens Circle's role in agentic payments but also creates single-issuer dependency risk for the broader stack.
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Which companies are building AI agent payment infrastructure?
Coinbase's x402 protocol handles direct USDC payments without accounts or subscriptions. Stripe launched the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) on its Tempo blockchain. Google introduced AP2 for delegated spending authorization, and Visa extended its card network with tokenized credentials for machine-driven commerce.
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How large could the AI agent payment market get?
Gartner projects AI agents could intermediate $15 trillion in purchases by 2028. McKinsey estimates retail agentic commerce could reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030. Both forecasts imply growth rates faster than stablecoins experienced during their own breakout years.
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