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 starting to engage in transactions, including paying for APIs and settling invoices. However, traditional payment systems are not equipped to handle these autonomous interactions, highlighting the need for new financial infrastructure. Consensus 2026 will bring together over 15,000 influential figures from the crypto, AI, and finance sectors to discuss and shape the future of agentic commerce.
The event will feature prominent speakers, including Christian Catalini, MIT professor and founder of the Cryptoeconomics Lab, who will explore the distinction between assisted checkout and true agentic payments. Google Cloud's Global Head of Strategy for Web3, Rich Widmann, will also discuss the company's investment in blockchain payment rails and its efforts to bring agentic commerce to scale. The conference will delve into the challenges of building products for AI agents, rather than humans, and will showcase two emerging protocols, x402 and MPP, which are vying to become the standard for autonomous payments.
Additionally, CoinDesk University will offer a comprehensive curriculum on building and deploying agentic payments, covering topics from theory to implementation. With the potential to shape the future of machine-to-machine transactions and regulatory frameworks, Consensus 2026 is an opportunity for attendees to have a voice in the development of agentic commerce.