Blockchain encryption becomes the default payment layer for AI agents, and stablecoins dominate machine transactions.

CoinFeed reported on May 24th that, according to a recent report by Keyrock, a leading industry research firm, traditional payment channels are ill-suited for the high-frequency, small-amount machine payment scenarios, and blockchain-based encrypted payment systems are gradually becoming the default payment carrier for AI agents. Statistics show that in the past year, AI agent-related on-chain transactions reached 176 million, with a settlement scale exceeding $73 million. Currently, machine payment settlement is highly concentrated, with 98.6% of transactions completed using the USDC stablecoin. This not only solidifies the issuer's industry position but also creates potential risks associated with reliance on a single currency. Several technology and payment giants, including Google, Visa, and Coinbase, are deploying dedicated machine payment architectures to compete in this market segment.