Google Reveals AI Agent Payments Protocol Backed by Coinbase, Ethereum Foundation

Google took its newest step Tuesday to hasten the arrival of the AI agent economic system, asserting the creation of an open-source protocol for agent funds backed by a few of crypto’s greatest corporations. 

The Agent Funds protocol revealed at present can be utilized as an extension of Google’s beforehand launched Agent2Agent protocol, which tried to create a regular for interactions between AI brokers—automated assistants licensed to zip across the web finishing advanced duties on behalf of people or organizations.

In the present day’s introduced protocol provides the essential ingredient of funds to that blend, with the objective of enabling AI brokers to seamlessly full monetary transactions with customers, retailers, and funds suppliers.

It’s backed each by crypto mainstays like Coinbase and the Ethereum Basis, in addition to conventional funds giants and distributors together with PayPal, American Categorical, and Etsy. Different crypto corporations supporting the initiative embody Sui creator Mysten Labs, outstanding crypto pockets MetaMask, and Eigen Labs, the agency behind Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer.

(Disclaimer: MetaMask is a product of Consensys, considered one of 22 buyers in an editorially impartial Decrypt.)

Google mentioned Tuesday its new protocol represents an effort to create a platform- and currency-agnostic “widespread language for safe, compliant transactions between brokers and retailers.” It’s going to assist credit score and debit card transactions, stablecoins, and real-time financial institution transfers.

To speed up the adoption of different digital property in its AI agent framework, Google has additionally launched a crypto-specific extension for its Agent2Agent protocol, dubbed x402. 

The Ethereum Basis was considered one of quite a few crypto organizations that contributed to the x402 extension, which it says will complement its personal efforts to make Ethereum the bedrock of the booming AI agent economic system. The Ethereum Basis is presently finalizing ERC-8004, a regular for brokers to find, confirm, and transact with one another on the community, which was backed by members of Google’s Agent2Agent crew. 

“ERC-8004 will assist many types of funds, however having the x402 extension helps the developer expertise,” Davide Crapis, head of the Ethereum Basis’s newly introduced AI crew, instructed Decrypt. “Past the ERC, x402 is getting adoption, so this extension opens up a brand new avenue for brokers constructed on crypto rails.”

Crapis added that at present’s announcement from Google is aligned along with his crew’s objective of making higher infrastructure for agentic interplay on Ethereum.

“It’s thrilling to see the concept of brokers paying one another resonate with the broader AI neighborhood,” Erik Reppel, head of engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform, mentioned Tuesday in a press release. “Bringing x402 into AP2 to energy stablecoin funds made sense—it’s a pure playground for brokers to start out transacting with one another and testing out crypto rails.”