"AI, Buy These Clothes at the Lowest Price" The Core Infrastructure of the AI Agent Era Is Stablecoins [Bitcoin Now]

AI Agents Purchasing Goods on Behalf of Users: Stablecoin Payments Rise
Gartner Estimates $30 Trillion Market in Five Years
Real-Time Settlement and Transaction Fees Under One Cent Highlighted

With the era of 'artificial intelligence (AI) agents'—capable of setting their own goals and executing them—on the horizon, analysts say that stablecoins have secured mid- to long-term growth potential as a means of payment. In an autonomous economy where AI becomes the main actor in economic activity, stablecoins are expected to become an essential financial infrastructure, enabling real-time settlement 365 days a year and ultra-low-cost payments without human intervention.

According to iM Securities on March 24, as AI agents become the main actors in economic activity in an autonomous economy, payment methods that are clearly differentiated from existing human-centric financial infrastructure will be essential. Core requirements include 24/7 real-time processing, borderless transfers, support for small and frequent transactions, and automatic settlement based on smart contracts. Stablecoins are evaluated as the most optimized payment method for these conditions.

A recent scenario report from Citrini Research, "The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis," stated that stablecoins will be adopted as the main payment method for transactions between AI agents. AI agents aim to eliminate the 2–3% fees associated with traditional card payments in order to reduce user costs. As a result, there is a high possibility they will choose stablecoins based on Solana or Ethereum L2, where payments are instant and transaction fees are less than one cent.

In May last year, Coinbase laid the technical foundation for AI agent-exclusive payments by introducing the 'x402' standard protocol. This protocol expands the existing web standard HTTP 402 to a blockchain-based format, allowing AI agents to hold their own cryptocurrency wallets and automatically pay service fees without human intervention. By integrating web requests and payment functions at the protocol level, this infrastructure makes 'machine-to-machine' commerce a reality.

Global market research firm Gartner forecast that by 2030, 'machine customers'—machines that purchase goods and services on behalf of people or companies—will impact $30 trillion in purchases. In particular, the efficiency of stablecoins is expected to be maximized in micropayment areas, such as per-data-call billing, API usage fees, and server usage time-based settlements.

Ultimately, attention is focused on the passage of the "Clarity Act," the legal foundation that will accelerate the integration of stablecoins into mainstream financial infrastructure. Although the bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year and its review is currently delayed in the Senate, the industry still sees a possibility for passage within this year. Major institutions such as JPMorgan predict that the "golden time" for final passage will be from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the third quarter this year. If regulatory uncertainties are resolved before the U.S. midterm elections in November, institutional capital inflows and service provider participation could expand explosively.

The global market capitalization of stablecoins increased from about $200 billion in December 2024 to approximately $298 billion as of February this year. However, as the virtual asset market has entered a correction phase, the growth rate has somewhat slowed, and the market is now in a consolidation period. Currently, the market is dominated by USDT (62%) and USDC (24%). Notably, there have been changes in market share: Circle's USDC, which strictly abides by U.S. regulatory guidelines, increased its market share from 22% at the end of 2024 to 25% by the end of February this year, while USDT, which faces regulatory uncertainties, declined from 68% to 61%. This indicates a shift in investor confidence toward more regulation-friendly assets.

An Hyunkyung, a researcher at iM Securities, commented, "While there will be short-term volatility due to the virtual asset cycle, in the mid- to long-term, structural growth in the stablecoin market is likely as real-use demand from AI agents increases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.