Yat Siu, the executive chairman and co-founder of a tech firm, asserts that while banks are unlikely to open accounts for AI agents, blockchain technology is poised to support their transactional needs. He notes that 50 to 100 billion AI agents will require wallets and stablecoins to operate autonomously. This shift is expected to revolutionize the $900 billion online advertising market, as AI agents will move away from traditional ad interactions to direct payments for services consumed. Major financial players like Coinbase, Visa, and Mastercard are currently developing dedicated frameworks to facilitate secure transactions initiated by these AI agents, creating a transition from traditional payment methods to blockchain-based solutions.
Visa: Visa is a global payments network expanding its infrastructure through initiatives like Visa Intelligent Commerce to handle AI agent-initiated transactions. It is integrating tokenization and pursuing interoperability with stablecoin and blockchain systems. Visa’s developments aim to accommodate agent-driven commerce within established payment frameworks.
Yat Siu: Yat Siu is executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, a firm focused on blockchain and digital assets. He has recently spoken at events including SuperAI 2026 on the integration of tokenization with AI agents and their role in autonomous digital economies. In this news, Siu explains blockchain’s necessity for scaling AI agent transactions beyond traditional banking systems.
Coinbase: Coinbase operates as a cryptocurrency exchange and infrastructure developer, advancing protocols such as x402 for stablecoin payments. It is actively building on-chain solutions to support autonomous transactions by AI agents. The company participates alongside traditional payment networks in creating rails for the emerging agent economy.
Mastercard: Mastercard is a payments company that has launched Agent Pay for Machines to enable secure, automated transactions across cards, accounts, and stablecoins. It is enhancing controls and settlement capabilities for machine-to-machine payments by AI agents. Mastercard’s efforts support the transition to on-chain infrastructure for independent agent activities.
Payments: Traditional payment networks are developing dedicated frameworks to enable secure transactions initiated by AI agents across multiple rails.
AI Economy: Industry leaders highlight a potential transformation in digital advertising as AI agents shift from ad interactions to direct payments for consumed services.
Collaboration: Crypto infrastructure providers and established financial networks are forming partnerships to create interoperable systems bridging on-chain and traditional payment methods for agent commerce.