SAN FRANCISCO —Coinbase said it has introduced what it calls the first cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure designed specifically for artificial intelligence agents, a move the company says could allow automated software programs to conduct financial transactions without human intervention.
In a press release, the crypto exchange said the new product, dubbed “Agentic Wallets,” is intended to give AI-driven systems the ability to spend, earn and trade digital assets autonomously while operating within predefined security and compliance limits.
Coinbase said current AI agents can analyze information or recommend actions but cannot independently complete transactions that require payment, such as executing trades, purchasing data or accessing application programming interfaces. The new infrastructure is designed to remove that limitation by enabling agents to hold and manage funds directly using blockchain-based payment rails.
‘From Scratch’
The company said the system includes built-in tools that allow developers to add financial capabilities — such as authentication, funding, sending payments, trading and earning yield — without building transaction logic from scratch.
At the core of the offering is a payments protocol known as “x402,” which Coinbase said supports machine-to-machine transactions and has already processed tens of millions of transactions. The infrastructure also supports so-called “gasless” trading on Coinbase’s Base blockchain network, allowing transactions to occur without requiring agents to manage network fees.
Coinbase said the wallets include programmable guardrails such as spending caps, transaction-size limits and compliance screening designed to block high-risk activity. Private keys are held within secure infrastructure and are not exposed to the AI models themselves, the company said.
Trusted Execution Environments
The system is integrated into the Coinbase Developer Platform and uses trusted execution environments to secure wallets while allowing autonomous operation, according to the release.
Coinbase said the technology could support use cases such as automated decentralized finance strategies, AI systems that pay for their own computing resources and agents that participate in digital marketplaces.
The announcement reflects a broader push across the technology and financial sectors to combine generative AI with blockchain-based payments, as companies explore ways to enable software agents to carry out complex economic activity with limited human oversight.
