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. At the forefront of this change are AI agents, software systems capable of autonomous perception, decision-making, and action, which are beginning to engage in transactions. However, the existing payment infrastructure, designed with humans in mind, poses significant friction for these agents, from navigating credit card transactions to merchant onboarding flows. Consensus 2026 is poised to address these challenges, bringing together over 15,000 influential figures in crypto, AI, and finance to discuss 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 systems can operate as counterparties, enabling features like atomic settlement and per-second payment streaming. This vision is not a distant future but a near-term engineering problem that Consensus aims to tackle. The event will feature key players such as Google Cloud, which is investing in blockchain payment rails, and the presence of emerging protocols like x402 and MPP, which are vying to become the standard for agentic commerce. CoinDesk University will offer a comprehensive curriculum for attendees to delve into the practical aspects of building and deploying agentic payments. With the potential to define the rails for trillions of dollars in machine-to-machine transactions and set regulatory frameworks for the next decade, Consensus 2026 is a pivotal moment in the evolution of agentic commerce.