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2d ago

Google Launches Agent Payments Protocol for AI Agents With Stablecoin Rails

The open-source spec uses cryptographic mandates to authorize AI-initiated payments across cards, real-time bank transfers, stablecoins.

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Photo: Vincent Isore
'Really cool': Coinbase CEO hails Google's stablecoin payment system
Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the tech giant's annual developers conference in May.

Overview

  • AP2 extends Google’s Agent2Agent framework to support transactions, enabling AI systems to send and receive money over card networks, bank transfers, and stablecoins.
  • A dedicated crypto extension, x402, was built with Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, and MetaMask to natively handle stablecoin and on-chain payments, aligning with Ethereum’s ERC-8004 work.
  • The protocol introduces tamper-proof, cryptographically signed mandates that create a verifiable audit trail to prove user intent and authorization for agent-led payments.
  • More than 60 organizations, including PayPal, American Express, Mastercard, Salesforce, Etsy, Lazada, and Shopee, have backed or begun integrating the standard.
  • Early proofs of concept, such as a Lowe’s Innovation Labs demo using x402 for stablecoin checkout, accompany public technical specs and reference code released on GitHub for testing and contributions.