Google Advances AI Payments With AP2, Teaming With Coinbase and Crypto Firms
Google announced on Sept. 16 that it has launched the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a standardized framework to allow AI agents to complete payments securely across multiple platforms and currencies. The company stated:
We’re collaborating with a diverse group of more than 60 organizations to help shape the future of agentic payments, including Adyen, American Express, Ant International, Coinbase, Etsy, Forter, Intuit, JCB, Mastercard, Mysten Labs, Paypal, Revolut, Salesforce, Servicenow, Unionpay International, Worldpay, and more.
The protocol expands on the Agent2Agent and Model Context Protocols and incorporates both conventional payment methods and digital assets such as stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Google emphasized the rationale: “AI agents are capable of transacting on behalf of users, which creates a need to establish a common foundation to securely authenticate, validate, and convey an agent’s authority to transact.”
Central to AP2 are cryptographically signed “Mandates” that serve as verifiable proof of user instructions, covering both real-time transactions and delegated tasks. Google explained its digital asset integration:
AP2 is designed as a universal protocol, providing security and trust for a variety of payments like stablecoins and cryptocurrencies.
“To accelerate support for the web3 ecosystem, in collaboration with Coinbase, Ethereum Foundation, Metamask and other leading organizations, we have extended the core constructs of AP2 and launched the A2A x402 extension, a production-ready solution for agent-based crypto payments. Extensions like these will help shape the evolution of cryptocurrency integrations within the core AP2 protocol,” Google explained.
The x402 extension allows crypto rails to function within AP2, enabling programmable, agent-led transactions.
Industry response highlighted the importance of this expansion into web3. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on social media platform X:
x402 + Google just unlocked a new level for AI agents. Agents can actually pay each other now, with x402 powering the stablecoin rail inside Google’s new Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2). Really cool.
By embedding support for stablecoins, ethereum, and programmable tokens into a unified framework, Google positions AP2 as a bridge between traditional payments infrastructure and emerging digital assets. Analysts note that this move could accelerate adoption of AI-led commerce, while offering merchants and consumers a secure and standardized system to transact with both fiat and cryptocurrencies.
Author: Kevin Helms
Source: Bitcoin
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
