Report: AI Agent Completes Over $73 Million On-Chain Payments, USDC Becomes Default Settlement Asset

BlockBeats News, May 26, Crypto market maker Keyrock, in collaboration with Coinbase, Tempo, and Virtuals Protocol, released the report "Who Pays the Agent?" The report stated that AI Agent is quickly becoming a key participant in the on-chain economy. Data shows that from May 2025 to April 2026, AI Agent has completed approximately 176 million on-chain transactions, with a total settlement amount exceeding $73 million.

The report indicates that the average payment amount per transaction by AI Agent is only $0.31 to $0.48, demonstrating the emergence of a machine-native micro-payment economy. About 76% of the transaction amounts are below the $0.3 threshold of Visa's fixed fee, making it difficult for traditional bank cards and bank payment systems to adapt to AI's high-frequency, small-value, autonomous payment demands.

Data shows that 98.6% of AI Agent payments are settled in USDC. As of Q1 2026, over 104,000 AI Agents have been registered. The report states that on the Base network, the cost of a USDC transfer is approximately $0.0001, accounting for about 0.03% of the $0.31 transaction amount, demonstrating a significant cost advantage compared to traditional payment systems.

The report believes that stablecoins are gradually becoming the "default currency infrastructure" for economic activities between AI and machines. However, Keyrock also warned that the current high dependence of the AI payment ecosystem on USDC poses centralization risks, implying that the entire emerging AI payment system is heavily reliant on the regulatory oversight and infrastructure stability of a single stablecoin issuer.

In addition, several technology and payment companies have begun to establish AI Agent payment infrastructure, including Coinbase's x402 protocol, Stripe and Tempo's Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), Google's AP2 Delegated Payments System, and Visa's extended tokenized payment credential services.

The report also points out that current regulatory frameworks, including the European MiCA Regulation, the U.S. GENIUS Act, and the EU AI Act, lack comprehensive regulatory standards for AI autonomous financial transactions and machine-to-machine payment behavior.