On July 26, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, shared his vision for the future where AI enhances the cryptocurrency landscape instead of replacing it.
He emphasized that AI agents will depend on programmable digital currencies, making Coinbase's AiFi platform increasingly important.
Armstrong highlighted Coinbase’s Base blockchain, the USDC stablecoin, and the x402 payment protocol as key components powering AiFi.
He explained that AI agents will handle payments and interact with online services more frequently, pushing demand for crypto infrastructure beyond traditional banking systems.
"If you're in crypto, pivot to AI," Armstrong said, challenging the notion that crypto and AI are in competition.
Since its launch in 2023, Base has provided a layer-2 network designed for faster, cheaper blockchain applications, evolving into a significant platform for AI-driven payments.
The x402 protocol, based on the HTTP "402 Payment Required" standard, enables AI agents and applications to make automatic payments using stablecoins, like USDC, for digital goods such as APIs and cloud services without requiring bank accounts.
USDC, launched in 2018 by Circle and the Centre Consortium with Coinbase support, serves as the stablecoin foundation for these transactions.
Combining Base, x402, and USDC forms the backbone of Coinbase AiFi's ecosystem.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported that by June, agentic payments via x402 on Base had surpassed 100 million on-chain transactions within nine months.
Most payments involved amounts exceeding $1, accounting for 95% of the transaction value. wallets using agentic payments tended to be newer, held a wider variety of digital assets, and maintained lower balances compared to average Base users.
Despite interest, Chainalysis has yet to provide updated figures on these transactions.
