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Google unveiled a new open-source payments specification designed to enable AI agents to send and receive money – supporting both card networks and dollar-pegged stablecoins. The initiative, built with 
Coinbase and consulted on by over 60 companies including Salesforce, Amex, and Etsy, aims to lay the foundation for agent-based commerce at scale.
What’s the Scoop?
- Agent-to-Agent Payments: The new spec builds on Google’s April Agent-to-Agent (A2A) framework by layering in payments capabilities, allowing agents to verify user intent, enforce guardrails, and settle transactions—on-chain or via card networks.
- Crypto Meets Cards: The protocol supports stablecoins and traditional payment rails, creating a shared language for autonomous agents to move value across Web2 and Web3.
- Coinbase as Core Collaborator: Coinbase contributed to the specification’s design, reinforcing its positioning as a key infrastructure partner in bringing crypto to mainstream commerce.
- Broader AI+Crypto Convergence: The launch comes just a day after the
Ethereum Foundation’s dAI team announcement, highlighting the growing convergence between decentralized systems and AI-driven infrastructure.
Bankless Take:
Agentic payments systems require a common foundation that can securely securely authenticate, validate, and convey an agent’s authority to transact. Google's flexible AP2 can be used to support new accountable purchasing models, including agent-based cryptocurrency payments.
Announcing Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open, shared protocol that provides a common language for secure, compliant transactions between agents and merchants.
— Google Cloud Tech (@GoogleCloudTech) September 16, 2025
AP2 can be used as an extension of the A2A protocol and MCP. Learn how it works ↓ https://t.co/RBFzpU2qUI
