Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, is confident that artificial intelligence will boost crypto demand instead of replacing it. In a recent post on X, he outlined how AI-driven agents will use programmable money to handle autonomous payments, potentially exceeding human transaction volume in the future.
Armstrong emphasized that crypto and AI are complementary technologies. He challenged the notion that crypto firms should abandon blockchain to focus solely on AI. Traditional payment systems rely heavily on human identity verification and manual approvals, making them less suitable for autonomous AI agents.
"If you're in crypto, pivot to AI," Armstrong wrote, dismissing the idea as zero-sum thinking. He described crypto as an infrastructure technology on par with electricity or the internet, essential for the evolving digital economy.
Base, x402, and Agentic Finance
Coinbase launched Base, a low-cost Ethereum layer-2 network, in February 2023. Although not built exclusively for AI, Base's quick settlements and low fees have made it a prime platform for the x402 payment protocol, introduced in May 2025. This open protocol uses the HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status to facilitate stablecoin payments, primarily settled in USDC, enabling smooth onchain transactions for websites and APIs.
Armstrong envisions a future where AI software can autonomously hold wallets, make micro-payments for digital services like data, computing power, or media generation, without needing multiple user accounts. This could lead to a surge in transaction counts as agents perform numerous small payments during single tasks. However, transaction volume alone doesn’t reveal the overall economic impact, leaving this as a developing thesis rather than a proven fact.
Chainalysis recently reported that Base has processed over 100 million x402 payments, though early growth was driven largely by meme-coin farming. Coinbase also offers Agentic Wallets, allowing developers to program spending and trading rules, further advancing the company’s vision of "Agentic Finance" or AiFi.
Armstrong’s strategy integrates Base, USDC, x402, and Agentic Wallets as the foundation for this new payment stack, positioning Coinbase at the forefront of AI-enabled decentralized finance.
