BlockBeats report: On May 24, Keyrock’s latest report revealed that crypto rails are increasingly becoming the default payment layer for AI agents. Over the past year, AI agents have completed over 176 million transactions on blockchain networks, with a settlement value exceeding $73 million. As AI agents begin autonomously purchasing data, cloud computing power, API services, and AI inference resources, traditional card payment systems are struggling to accommodate high-frequency, ultra-low-value transactions. Currently, approximately 76% of agent payments are under 30 cents, while the cost of some on-chain stablecoin transfers is just a fraction of a cent.
Coinbase, Stripe, Google, and Visa have all begun deploying machine-to-machine payment infrastructure. Coinbase’s x402 protocol enables AI agents to directly pay for on-chain analytics and cloud services using USDC. Data shows that 98.6% of AI agent payments are currently settled in USDC. The report suggests this further solidifies Circle’s pivotal role in crypto payments, but also indicates growing industry reliance on a single stablecoin issuer.