Key Points
- AI agents settled more than $73 million across 176 million transactions over the last 12 months, according to a new report from Keyrock.
- Stablecoins, particularly USDC, have become the dominant payment layer for AI-driven machine-to-machine commerce because traditional payment systems remain too expensive for microtransactions.
- Researchers say a fully developed crypto-based ecosystem for autonomous AI payments has rapidly emerged, driven by sub-dollar transactions and Web3 integrations.
Artificial intelligence agents using cryptocurrency payment rails have evolved from an experimental concept into a rapidly expanding economic ecosystem, according to a new report published by crypto investment firm Keyrock.
The report, released Thursday in partnership with Coinbase and blockchain infrastructure provider Tempo, revealed that AI agents settled more than $73 million across approximately 176 million transactions between May 2025 and April 2026.
Keyrock researcher Ben Harvey described the development as the emergence of an entirely new financial infrastructure layer built specifically for autonomous machine-to-machine commerce.
“In the past 12 months, machine-to-machine payments have gone from concept to a developed ecosystem,” Harvey wrote in the report.
The findings highlight how crypto payment systems are increasingly becoming foundational infrastructure for AI-driven digital activity.
Stablecoins Become Default Settlement Layer
According to the report, stablecoins have effectively become the default settlement mechanism for AI agents because traditional financial payment systems cannot efficiently process ultra-small transactions.
By the end of the first quarter of 2026, more than 104,000 AI agents had reportedly registered across over 15 directories and registries.
The average transaction value across these agents was approximately 31 cents.
Harvey argued that this transaction size exposes a major limitation of conventional payment rails such as Visa and traditional banking networks.
“A fixed processing fee of roughly 30 cents per transaction makes sub-dollar payments uneconomical,” Harvey explained.
“An agent paying three cents for a weather API call can’t route through Visa.”
As a result, stablecoins emerged as the most practical solution for machine-driven transactions involving tiny payment amounts.
“Stablecoins won the settlement layer for machine commerce almost by default; they were the only instrument that could handle sub-dollar transactions without the economics collapsing,” the report stated.
USDC Dominates AI Agent Payments
The report found that Circle’s USDC stablecoin accounted for more than 98% of all AI agent settlements.
Researchers described this dominance as both a sign of strong market validation and a potential systemic risk for the broader AI-agent economy.
Harvey warned that such heavy reliance on a single issuer creates concentration risks if Circle were to face technical failures, regulatory pressure or liquidity issues.
“This is a lot of dependence on a single stablecoin issuer’s reserve management, regulatory standing and technical infrastructure,” Harvey wrote.
“If Circle faces a regulatory challenge, a de-peg event, or even sustained downtime, the agent economy has no fallback.”
The findings reinforce USDC’s growing importance not only within crypto trading markets but also across emerging AI and Web3 infrastructure systems.
AI Agents Expand Across Crypto Ecosystem
AI agents are increasingly being integrated throughout the broader cryptocurrency sector beyond simple payments.
Many Web3 platforms now use AI-driven systems to autonomously interact with decentralized applications, launch tokens, conduct onchain trades and manage digital services without human intervention.
Some blockchain protocols are also exploring AI-powered automated trading systems capable of independently managing portfolios and executing strategies based on market conditions.
A CoinGecko survey conducted in April 2025 found that 87% of crypto users would allow AI agents to manage at least 10% of their digital asset portfolio.
The survey reflected growing comfort among crypto-native users with autonomous AI participation in financial markets.
Major Firms Race to Secure Positioning
The report also revealed that incumbent financial and technology firms have deployed more than $8 billion in acquisitions tied to the emerging AI-agent payment economy.
Researchers suggested that major corporations increasingly view machine-to-machine commerce as a future multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure opportunity.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire previously predicted that billions of AI agents could eventually operate autonomously using stablecoins on behalf of users within the next five years.
That vision is now beginning to materialize as AI systems increasingly require real-time, programmable and globally accessible payment infrastructure that traditional financial rails struggle to provide efficiently.
Traditional Finance Faces Structural Challenge
The rise of AI-driven stablecoin settlements represents a broader challenge to conventional financial infrastructure.
Traditional payment systems were built around human transactions, banking hours and relatively large transaction sizes.
Autonomous AI systems, however, require near-instant settlement, programmable logic and the ability to process tiny payments at extremely low cost around the clock.
Stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure appear uniquely positioned to satisfy those requirements.
The report suggests that machine-to-machine commerce may become one of the strongest long-term adoption drivers for stablecoins and decentralized financial infrastructure over the coming years.
AI and Crypto Ecosystems Become Increasingly Intertwined
The rapid growth of AI-agent settlements highlights how artificial intelligence and blockchain ecosystems are becoming increasingly interconnected.
Crypto provides programmable financial rails for autonomous systems, while AI expands the number of machines capable of independently participating in digital economies.
Together, researchers argue, these technologies are beginning to create entirely new forms of economic activity where software agents transact continuously without direct human involvement.
The emergence of this ecosystem may significantly reshape how payments, digital services and online commerce operate in the years ahead.
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