Keyrock, together with Coinbase and Tempo, jointly released a report stating that over the past 12 months, AI agent payments have evolved from a concept to a mature ecosystem, with settlement amounts reaching $73 million and 176 million transactions from May 2025 to April 2026. By the end of the first quarter of this year, more than 104k AI agents had registered in over 15 directories and registries, with an average transaction size of about $0.31. The report states that traditional payment networks struggle to support small transactions under $1 due to fixed fees, making stablecoins almost the default settlement layer for machine commerce; among AI agent settlements, over 98% use Circle's USDC. However, the report believes this also creates dependency on a single stablecoin issuer, with associated risks related to reserve management, regulatory status, and technological infrastructure. (Cointelegraph)

USDC0.01%

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GateUser-744c843b

· 9h ago

Reserve risk, in other words: If Circle's government bonds have issues, the AI world will also shake accordingly.

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MetalKeyInsomnia

· 05-25 06:25

It takes only 12 months from concept to mature ecosystem, a speed faster than the DeFi summer.

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VinesCoiledIntoGeometricShapes

· 05-25 05:56

Does the AI agent choose USDC itself or is it forcibly assigned by the developer? This point is quite crucial.

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LimitOrderMonk

· 05-25 05:32

104k AI agent registrations, this is just the beginning, next year might have to multiply several times over

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PixelatedDriedFish

· 05-25 05:31

The term "machine commerce" is quite interesting. Will there be a "machine tax" in the future?

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0xLateComer

· 05-25 05:27

The micro-payment scenario has finally found its home; traditional finance really can't handle this.

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OrangePeelRadio

· 05-25 05:27

Circle is now considered the central bank of the AI economy, and its position is a bit delicate.

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MerkleGarden

· 05-25 05:25

Should we also mention the fragmentation issue with more than 15 directories and registries?

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GateUser-f78f1f3e

· 05-25 05:24

$73 million doesn't sound like much, but 176 million transactions—this density is much higher than I imagined.

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Post-RainReflectionsMarket

· 05-25 05:21

An average of $0.31 per transaction; traditional payment fees are probably higher than this, no wonder stablecoins have become the default.

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Keyrock: Over the past year, AI agents settled $73 million through the crypto network

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