# Google and Coinbase Collab on AI Agent Stablecoin Payments Standards

*Author: Bankless*
*Published: Sep 16, 2025*
*Source: https://www.bankless.com/read/google-and-coinbase-collab-on-ai-agent-stablecoin-payments-standards*

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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.AP2 can be used as an extension of the A2A protocol and MCP. Learn how it works ↓ [https://t.co/RBFzpU2qUI](https://t.co/RBFzpU2qUI)— Google Cloud Tech (@GoogleCloudTech) [September 16, 2025](https://twitter.com/GoogleCloudTech/status/1967942818065768558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)