Mastercard AI Agent Payments: Coinbase, OKX & More

Mastercard has launched Agent Pay for Machines, an infrastructure for payments made by autonomous AI agents. The company unveiled this on June 10, partnering with over 30 firms, including Coinbase, OKX, Stripe, and Ripple. Agent permissions and credentials will initially be recorded on the Polygon, Solana, and Base blockchains, with broader access planned for later in 2026. This initiative extends Mastercard's crypto strategy, which already includes settling cards with stablecoins like USDC and PYUSD. Raj Dhamodharan, who leads blockchain and digital asset products at Mastercard, notes that demand is already visible, with rising activity around HTTP 402, an emerging internet payment standard. This indicates a growing need for AI payment solutions. The bottom line is that AI agents are expected to handle trillions of dollars in transactions by the end of the decade, making developments like Agent Pay a significant step in the future of commerce.