Coinbase Opens Doors to Autonomous Commerce with AI Agent Payments
Coinbase is expanding its services to include payment acceptance from artificial intelligence (AI) agents through Coinbase Business. The feature, which allows businesses to accept USDC payments initiated by AI software using x402, an open payment standard developed by Coinbase for machine-to-machine transactions.
The company views this as one of its highest-conviction growth areas, with agent traffic recently surpassing human traffic on its Base documentation pages. The business unit has processed roughly $1 billion in combined payments and trading volume, according to Coinbase. USDC payments do not carry traditional card chargeback risk, though foreign exchange and other charges may apply.
Coinbase Business launched in June 2025 and has signed up about 5,000 customers, who can earn 3.35% in rewards on eligible idle USDC balances. The company is positioning USDC as the settlement layer for agent activity.