Experience the Dawn of Agentic Commerce at Consensus 2026

A significant 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 beginning to engage in transactions, but the existing payment infrastructure is not designed to accommodate them. The traditional payment systems, including credit cards and bank logins, are fraught with friction that AI agents cannot navigate. The development of new payment rails, regulatory frameworks, and business models is critical to supporting agentic commerce. Consensus 2026 will bring together over 15,000 influential minds in crypto, AI, and finance to discuss and shape the future of agentic commerce. According to Christian Catalini, MIT professor and founder of the Cryptoeconomics Lab, true agentic payments will only be achieved when AI is the counterparty, enabling features like atomic settlement and per-second payment streaming. The engineering problem of creating programmable rails for agentic commerce is being tackled by companies like Google Cloud, which is investing in blockchain payment rails and participating in open protocols like x402. The biggest friction points in agentic commerce stem from the fact that most products are built for humans, not agents, with sign-ups, logins, and manual onboarding creating barriers. Two protocols, x402 and MPP, are emerging as contenders for the payment infrastructure needed to support agentic commerce. Consensus 2026 will provide a platform for these protocols to be debated and discussed, with key players like Erik Reppel, founder of x402, and Stefano Bury, head of Virtuals Protocol, in attendance. CoinDesk University will offer a structured curriculum for attendees to learn about building and deploying agentic payments, from theory to implementation. The window for shaping the future of agentic commerce is open, but it won't remain so forever. Join 15,000+ builders, investors, and industry leaders at Consensus 2026 to have a voice in how this unfolds.