Recently, I showed you how AI agents could send demand for computing power soaring.
But computing power is only part of what they’ll need.
These agents are being built to search for information, hire outside services and complete complicated jobs without waiting for a person to guide every step.
And soon, they’ll need a way to pay for all of it.
That could have massive implications for the future of crypto.
The Machine Economy
An AI agent can already do far more than answer your questions.
It can search the internet, compare prices, rent computing power, purchase data or call another AI model when it needs help.
But most payment systems were built for people.
Credit cards generally require a name, billing address and bank account. Subscriptions require someone to create an account and choose a plan. And many online services still require a person to enter payment information at checkout.
But an AI agent can’t stop and ask someone to enter a credit card number every time it makes a purchase.
That’s where crypto comes in.
A crypto wallet allows an agent to hold digital dollars and send them anywhere in the world almost instantly, at any hour.
And the entire process can be controlled by software.
A person or company can decide how much an agent can spend, what it can purchase and which services it can use. The agent can then handle individual payments on its own.
As I wrote about last year, Coinbase has already created a system designed to make this possible.
It’s called x402, named after an old internet status code for “payment required.”
When an agent requests information from a paid website or online service, x402 tells it the price. The agent pays using a stablecoin such as USDC, then receives what it requested.
There’s no checkout page or monthly subscription. And the agent doesn’t need to create an account. The payment is built directly into the request it was already making.
For example, an agent researching the housing market might pay a few cents for mortgage data, local home prices and a specialized forecasting model.
A person might need three subscriptions to access those services. But an agent can pay for exactly what it needs and move on.
And these payments are already happening.
Coinbase says the system that helps process x402 payments has handled more than 100 million transactions worth roughly $28 million across Base and Solana.
That works out to an average payment of only about $0.28.
Now, that might not sound impressive. But the small size of those payments is exactly what makes this so compelling.
A person probably wouldn’t pull out a credit card to pay 28 cents for a one piece of information.
But an agent could make dozens of these payments during a single assignment. And companies may eventually deploy thousands of agents that work around the clock.
All of them could end up paying for data, computing power, software and services every time they go to work.
You don’t need to be a mathematician to realize how quickly that adds up!
And Coinbase isn’t the only major company preparing for this eventuality.
Google has introduced a system that allows AI agents to make purchases for users. It worked with Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation and other crypto companies to include stablecoin payments.
Circle, the company behind USDC, has gone even further.
Its new system allows AI agents to send as little as one-millionth of a dollar. That makes it possible to charge for a single search, one second of computing time or one call to an AI model.
Those purchases are too small for credit cards, so the processing fees could cost more than the product.
But digital dollars can be divided into tiny amounts and transferred automatically.
That means a weather service could charge for each forecast. Or a data center could charge by the second for computing power. And one agent could pay another to complete part of an assignment.
We’re still at the beginning of this transition. But the amount of money involved could eventually be enormous.
McKinsey estimates that AI agents could influence between $3 to $5 trillion in global consumer spending by 2030.
That doesn’t mean all that money will necessarily move through crypto. Visa, Mastercard and banks are also building payment systems for AI agents.
But crypto doesn’t need to capture the entire pie to make a huge difference.
If stablecoins eventually handle just 1% of that spending, it could represent up to $50 billion in annual payments.
And consumer purchases are only part of the opportunity.
Because that estimate doesn’t include the countless small payments agents could make for data, software and computing power while they work. Those transactions could increase demand for stablecoins and bring more money, wallets and activity onto the blockchains processing them.
And Ethereum could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Ethereum and its secondary networks already handle a large share of stablecoin activity. More payments from AI agents could increase demand for their blockchains, financial applications and potentially ETH itself.
But that’s the long-term opportunity.
I believe several catalysts could send crypto prices higher much sooner.
Here’s My Take
Last week, bitcoin surged nearly 25% while Ethereum climbed roughly 30%. But I believe we’re just getting started.
Investors are coming back to crypto just as AI agents could give it a whole new wave of users.
And if that demand takes hold, I believe this rally could have a lot further to run.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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