Coinbase Links AI to Crypto Payments With New Protocol for Autonomous Transactions
Coinbase is linking artificial intelligence directly to crypto payments with a new system built on the Model Context Protocol that lets AI agents hold wallets, send stablecoin payments, and interact with online services.
The launch of Payments MCP connects AI to on-chain value transfer at scale, giving machines the ability to transact autonomously through a standardized protocol.
Payments MCP builds on x402, Coinbase’s open payment standard based on the long-unused “HTTP 402: Payment Required” code. It works with Anthropic’s Claude (Desktop and Code), Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s Codex, and Cherry Studio, allowing agents to create wallets, onramp funds, and send stablecoin payments directly from a prompt.
“Crypto is uniquely suited to machines,” Erik Reppel, Coinbase’s head of engineering for its developer platform, told Decrypt. “It is the only open, digital-native standard for payment that any program can use.”
Reppel said the naming of x402 was intentional and rooted in a long-running effort to build an internet-native payment standard.
“People have been trying to create an internet-native payment standard since the ’90s,” he said. “Marc Andreessen and the team at Netscape explored it while navigating credit card systems and trying to build true internet payments.”
When HTTPS arrived, Reppel explained, people finally felt safe sending credit cards online, and payments modernized. Still, a standard has yet to emerge. Every merchant handles card data differently; the forms look similar, but the processes between computers are always unique.
“AI agents are just smarter programs, and they work best with programmatic interfaces instead of human-optimized systems,” Reppel said. “Now, with AI agents needing to exchange value programmatically, we finally have the tailwinds to make an open standard possible—a technology ten times better and more accessible than before.”
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Coinbase says Payments MCP makes it simple for users to experiment with AI-driven transactions without writing code.
A built-in interface lets users create and fund wallets with only an email address—no developer setup or API keys required. Through the x402 Bazaar Explorer, agents can browse APIs and services they can pay for directly inside the app. At the same time, an integrated onramp and guest checkout let them begin transacting almost instantly in supported regions.
Users can also set spending limits and manage approvals through an easy configuration panel. For privacy and speed, the system runs locally. Coinbase describes it as a bridge between developer tools and mainstream use, making “agentic commerce” accessible beyond the coding crowd.
