- Agentic payment activity on Coinbase’s Base Network has surpassed 100 million transactions in roughly nine months, signaling growth beyond the proof-of-concept stage.
- The growth was initially fueled by the PING memecoin experiment, but transaction volumes and values have stabilized and increased, moving beyond micropayments.
- Industry leaders like Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong and Circle’s Jeremy Allaire argue AI agents could soon drive significant onchain activity, with stablecoins seen as ideal for these automated payments.
Agentic payment activity on Coinbase‘s Base network has exceeded 100 million transactions, demonstrating that machine-to-machine payments are progressing beyond initial tests in onchain environments, according to a new Chainalysis report. The x402 protocol, which enables software agents to make direct onchain payments via web requests, achieved this milestone within about nine months of its launch. Early adoption was significantly driven by a memecoin experiment called PING, which required protocol payments for token minting.
However, activity did not collapse after the initial frenzy subsided. Consequently, transaction volumes stabilized while the total value of transfers increased significantly. By early 2026, transactions over $1 accounted for 95% of the total value transferred through x402, a sharp rise from 49% in early 2025. This shift suggests the protocol’s use case is evolving beyond simple micropayments.
Meanwhile, the rise of AI tools has renewed interest in these automated payment systems. Supporters argue crypto networks are ideal because they operate continuously and process payments without requiring manual approval for each transaction. Several crypto industry leaders, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, believe AI agents could soon represent a major share of onchain activity.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has similarly described cryptocurrency as the “native currency” of AI agents. Interest extends beyond crypto, as highlighted by a recent Forrester report on Stripe‘s Machine Payments Protocol. Furthermore, Bernstein analysts said AI agents could boost demand for stablecoins, which are well-suited for frequent, low-value payments.
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