Report: Cryptocurrency is becoming the default payment layer for AI agents, with 98.6% of transactions settled via USDC.

According to a report by Keyrock on May 24th, cryptocurrency rails are gradually becoming the default payment layer for AI agents. In the past year, AI agents have completed over 176 million transactions via blockchain, with a settlement amount exceeding $73 million. As AI agents begin to autonomously purchase data, cloud computing power, API services, and AI inference resources, traditional bank card payment systems are struggling to adapt to high-frequency, ultra-small-amount payment scenarios. Currently, approximately 76% of agent payments are below 30 cents, while some on-chain stablecoin transfers have costs as low as a fraction of a cent. Coinbase, Stripe, Google, and Visa have all begun deploying machine-to-machine payment infrastructure. Coinbase's x402 protocol allows AI agents to directly use USDC to pay for on-chain analytics and cloud services. Data shows that currently 98.6% of AI agent payments are settled via USDC. The report argues that this further strengthens Circle's important position in the crypto payments sector, but also means that the industry's reliance on a single stablecoin issuer is increasing.