Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong has pushed back against suggestions that cryptocurrency companies should shift focus entirely toward artificial intelligence. In a recent post, he argued that the rise of AI will instead increase demand for crypto-based financial tools, as autonomous software agents require payment systems that traditional banks cannot provide.

Armstrong described crypto as general-purpose infrastructure comparable to electricity or the internet. He rejected zero-sum thinking that frames AI and crypto as competitors, stating that AI supplies programmable intelligence while crypto supplies programmable money. The combination, he said, creates what Coinbase calls agentic finance, or AiFi.

Why AI Agents Cannot Rely on Traditional Banking

Traditional bank accounts demand identity verification, documentation and human control that software agents lack. AI systems have no legal identity, passport or ability to complete standard account-opening processes. They also struggle with the manual approvals and higher minimums common in card and bank networks.

Crypto wallets allow developers to equip agents with the ability to hold funds and execute payments automatically. An agent can pay small amounts for data requests, computing power, storage or API access and settle those transfers in seconds without waiting for bank clearance. Stablecoins such as USDC provide a consistent unit of account so agents can budget and price services without exposure to large price swings.

Armstrong forecast that AI agents will eventually complete more daily transactions than all humans combined. The prediction carries no fixed timeline and rests on the expectation that software will make frequent low-value payments during routine tasks.

Base, USDC and x402 Form the Core Stack

Coinbase has built its agentic finance approach around three components. Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network launched in 2023, offers lower fees and faster settlement than many larger chains. The network was designed as general-purpose infrastructure and has become the primary venue for machine payments.

In May 2025 the company introduced x402, an open protocol that repurposes the long-unused HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code. When an agent requests paid content or an API service, the protocol returns payment instructions, the agent signs a blockchain transaction, and access is granted once settlement is confirmed. Most activity uses USDC on Base.

Additional tools support the same model. Coinbase for Agents, released in June 2026, lets developers give AI systems controlled access to trading, portfolio management and payments under predefined spending limits. Agentic wallets enable software to hold and move funds within set rules. Businesses can now accept USDC payments initiated by agents, and a marketplace helps agents discover and purchase data, compute and other services.

More than 90 percent of on-chain agentic stablecoin payments already occur on Base. The x402 Foundation operates under the Linux Foundation with support from Coinbase and other infrastructure firms.

Transaction Volumes Reach 100 Million on Base

Analytics firm Chainalysis reported in June that x402-linked payments on Base exceeded 100 million transactions within roughly nine months of activity. Transactions of at least one dollar accounted for 95 percent of the total value transferred. Wallets involved in these flows tended to be newer, held a wider range of assets and carried smaller average balances than typical Base users.

Early volume included activity linked to meme-coin farming and automated scripts, so not every transfer represents independent AI agents purchasing commercial services. Recent 30-day payment volume for the protocol has been reported in the low tens of millions of dollars. The figures remain small relative to global card and banking networks yet demonstrate measurable growth in machine-initiated transfers.

Upcoming Earnings Provide Additional Context

Coinbase is scheduled to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 30. Analysts surveyed by financial data providers expect revenue of approximately 1.29 billion dollars, a decline of 13.8 percent from the year-earlier period, with earnings per share projected to remain flat. The report may offer further insight into stablecoin activity and developer-product traction, though the company has not indicated it will break out agentic-finance revenue separately.

Armstrong has previously linked broader adoption of such systems to clearer regulatory frameworks in the United States. The company continues to expand tools that allow autonomous software to hold wallets, pay for digital resources and operate under user-defined controls, positioning crypto rails as a payment layer for an expanding class of non-human economic actors.