Alchemy, a leading provider of cryptocurrency infrastructure, has introduced a groundbreaking tool called AgentPay, designed to facilitate seamless communication between various AI payment systems from prominent companies such as Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and Circle. This new tool addresses the long-standing problem of agentic payment systems being unable to interact with one another, resulting in merchants having to establish separate integrations for each protocol.
According to Alchemy CTO Guillaume Poncin, "This approach is unsustainable and will only lead to further fragmentation as more systems emerge." AgentPay resolves this issue by allowing merchants to register their existing API, which is then provided with a new endpoint, enabling any agent on a supported protocol to make payments through it. As a key player in the Web3 ecosystem, Alchemy is often referred to as the 'AWS of Web3' due to its provision of essential infrastructure, developer tools, and node services for building blockchain applications.
AgentPay promises to simplify the process by requiring only one integration for every protocol, supporting notable protocols like x402, MPP, A2P, and L402. By acting as a translation layer, AgentPay routes instructions without Alchemy directly handling funds, as explained by Poncin. The emergence of agentic finance, expected to become a cornerstone of online payment activity, often involves micro-transactions or nano-payments between AI agents, with humans playing a background role.
Alchemy has initiated a private beta launch, with plans for a general release in the coming weeks.