Jesse Pollak of Coinbase Predicts AI Agents Will Revolutionize Crypto Payments

According to Jesse Pollak of Coinbase, the rapid advancement of AI agents is transforming the online payment landscape, with crypto infrastructure poised to become a key player. In a recent interview with CoinDesk, Pollak noted that what was previously impossible is now achievable due to the accelerating capabilities of autonomous AI systems. As these agents continue to evolve, the need for native transaction methods is becoming increasingly clear. "Agents, which are defined in software and operate using software, require money that functions like software," Pollak explained. He will be discussing this topic further at Consensus Miami 2026 next month. The growing interest in "agentic payments" is driven by the potential for AI systems to autonomously pay for services such as data access, computing power, or travel bookings. Pollak hopes that the x402 open-source payments protocol, developed in collaboration with companies like Microsoft, Google, and Mastercard, will be a vital component of this ecosystem. The x402 protocol enables on-demand API payments without the need for subscriptions or traditional billing systems. By leveraging blockchain-based payments, agents can make a single API call or smart contract call to transfer funds globally, almost instantly, and at a negligible cost, according to Pollak. There is already evidence of early adoption, with approximately $48 million in payment volume having been processed through X402, and about 95% of these transactions taking place on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network founded by Pollak and incubated by Coinbase. The ecosystem is expanding rapidly, with integrations spanning AI providers, data platforms, and travel services that agents can access directly. Pollak's long-term vision is to create an open marketplace where agents can programmatically access services without encountering paywalls or requiring human intervention. "The goal is to enable agents to operate freely," he said, describing a system where software can seamlessly discover, purchase, and utilize digital services in real-time. While fully autonomous "zero-human" businesses are beginning to emerge, Pollak believes that the more significant near-term shift will come from people using AI to enhance their capabilities. "Top performers are now using agents to become even more successful," he said, describing workflows powered by multiple parallel AI systems. For the crypto industry, the main challenge remains adoption. According to Pollak, the solution lies not in better marketing, but in making crypto invisible to the user. "It will be much easier to promote crypto when people don't need to be aware of it, they just experience it," he said.