Experience the Dawn of Agentic Commerce at Consensus 2026

A seismic shift is underway in the world of commerce, driven by the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain payments. AI agents, capable of autonomous decision-making and action, are starting to engage in transactions, from paying for APIs to settling invoices. However, traditional payment systems are not equipped to handle these interactions seamlessly. The existing infrastructure, including credit cards and bank logins, creates friction that AI agents cannot navigate as humans do. The question on everyone's mind is: what kind of financial infrastructure will these agents operate on, and who will build it? Consensus 2026 is poised to address these questions, bringing together over 15,000 influential figures from the crypto, AI, and finance sectors. The event will delve into the future of agentic commerce, exploring the regulatory frameworks, business models, and payment rails necessary to support this emerging landscape. Christian Catalini, an MIT professor and founder of the Cryptoeconomics Lab, emphasizes that true agentic payments begin when AI is the counterparty, enabling capabilities such as atomic settlement and per-second payment streaming. This is not a distant future scenario but a near-term engineering challenge that will be tackled at Consensus 2026. Google Cloud's active investment in blockchain payment rails and its participation in open protocols like x402 underscore the seriousness with which agentic commerce is being approached at the highest levels of the tech industry. Rich Widmann, Google Cloud's Global Head of Strategy for Web3, notes that the biggest friction points arise from products being built for humans, not agents, highlighting the need for infrastructure designed specifically for AI agents. Two protocols, x402 and MPP, are emerging as contenders for the agentic stack, and both will be represented at Consensus 2026. The event will also feature CoinDesk University, offering a structured curriculum on building and deploying agentic payments, from theory to advanced implementation. As agentic commerce is not a future state but an early-stage present, the window for involvement is open, but it won't remain so forever. The protocols and regulatory frameworks being discussed at Consensus 2026 could define the trajectory of trillions of dollars in machine-to-machine transactions, making it a pivotal moment for those interested in shaping the future of commerce.