At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Allaire said billions of AI agents may soon transact continuously on behalf of users and businesses, requiring fast, programmable, and globally accessible money. He and Changpeng Zhao both see crypto as the natural financial layer for AI activity, a view that already influences product development as companies like Coinbase and Google.
Stablecoins May Power the AI Economy
Jeremy Allaire, the chief executive of stablecoin issuer Circle, believes the global economy is on the cusp of a major structural shift driven by artificial intelligence and digital money. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Allaire said that within the next three to five years, billions of autonomous AI agents could be operating continuously across the global economy, executing transactions and performing tasks without direct human involvement.
According to Allaire, these agents will require a financial system that matches their speed, programmability, and global reach, and he argues that stablecoins are currently the only viable solution capable of meeting those demands at scale.
Allaire described a future in which AI agents conduct economic activity on behalf of users, businesses, and institutions, handling payments, subscriptions, and microtransactions around the clock. He explained that traditional banking rails and card-based systems are poorly suited to this environment due to friction, geographic limitations, and reliance on human authorization. On the other hand, stablecoins offer near-instant settlement, internet-native design, and the ability to integrate directly into automated software systems.
Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, argued that crypto assets are likely to become the default currency for AI-driven commerce, and predicted that autonomous agents will use blockchain-based payments for everyday transactions like booking travel, purchasing services, or settling restaurant bills. He dismissed the idea that AI agents would rely on credit cards or legacy payment methods, and described blockchain as the most natural technological interface for machine-driven economic activity.
This vision is already beginning to influence product development across both crypto and traditional technology sectors. In May, Coinbase’s development team introduced an online payments protocol known as x402, which is designed specifically to allow AI agents to transact using stablecoins over the internet. The system revives the long-unused HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code and combines it with Ethereum Improvement Proposal 3009, enabling pre-signed payment authorizations. This approach allows automated transfers to occur without repeated manual approvals or the need for agents to manage gas fees directly.
At the same time, large technology companies are positioning themselves to play a role in agentic commerce. On Jan. 11, Google unveiled its Universal Commerce Protocol, to support payments executed by AI agents on behalf of users. Google’s system relies on its Agent Payment Protocol 2, with Google Pay acting as the default handler for US dollar transactions.
