Crypto payments go autonomous as Ethereum sees a surge of agent registrations This week brought a flurry of developments that could let AI agents move from advising humans to executing crypto transactions on their own — and markets are already reacting. Coinbase launches “Agentic Wallets” Coinbase introduced Agentic Wallets, a wallet architecture built specifically for autonomous AI agents. The aim: let AI systems hold, spend, earn and trade crypto without needing human approval at every step. According to Coinbase, “the next generation of agents won’t just advise – they’ll act.” Key features and safeguards: - Built on Coinbase infrastructure and powered by the x402 payments protocol, which has processed over 50 million transactions. - Enables machine-to-machine crypto payments, gasless trading on Base, and programmable financial actions. - Developers can enforce session caps and transaction limits. - Private keys remain secured within Coinbase’s infrastructure. - Built-in compliance tooling automatically screens transactions. Lightning Labs expands agent tooling on Bitcoin Lightning Labs unveiled a toolkit to enable AI agents to transact directly over the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Their update includes support for automatic L402 payments, node operations via MCP, remote key signing for enhanced security, and scoped spending controls — all designed to let autonomous agents interact with Lightning with better security and operational control. Ethereum agent activity explodes after ERC-8004 On Ethereum, activity ramped up sharply after the launch of ERC-8004, a standard that gives agents portable on-chain identities and a trust layer. Over 13,000 AI agents registered on-chain in a single day following the standard’s introduction, signaling strong developer uptake and interest in identity-driven agent ecosystems. Market response: many AI tokens climb Market action reflected growing enthusiasm for the AI payments narrative. Several AI-related tokens finished the week in positive territory: - Kite (KITE): ~+15% over seven days - tokenbot (CLANKER): >+15% - Siren (SIREN): +12% - Unibase (UB): +9% (Prices per CoinMarketCap.) Some tokens were down on shorter time frames, but the broader weekly gains suggest investors may be positioning early around autonomous agents and machine-native payments. Why it matters If these infrastructure upgrades prove robust and secure, they could unlock new machine-to-machine economic flows — from autonomous services paying each other for compute and data, to agents managing and optimizing portfolios without constant human intervention. Built-in compliance and key custody controls will be critical in determining whether regulators and institutions are comfortable with autonomous payments at scale. Disclaimer This content is informational and not investment advice. Crypto trading carries high risk; do your own research before making financial decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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