Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said billions of artificial intelligence agents will use stablecoins for everyday economic activity within three to five years.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Allaire said autonomous AI agents will require a dedicated financial system.
“There will be billions, literally billions of AI agents conducting economic activity in the world on a continuous basis,”
Jeremy Allaire said.
He argued that stablecoins are the only viable payment option currently available for AI-driven commerce.
“They need a payment system and there is no other alternative other than stablecoins,”
Jeremy Allaire said.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao echoed the view, saying crypto will be the native currency for AI agents.
“They’re not going to use bank cards or swipe credit cards, they’re going to use crypto,”
Changpeng Zhao said.
Zhao added that blockchain offers the most natural interface for AI agents to transact autonomously.
Crypto firms are already building tools to support AI-driven payments and commerce.
Coinbase introduced its x402 payments protocol to allow AI agents to transact using stablecoins online.
The system enables automated payments without manual approvals or gas fees.
Google has also entered the space with its Universal Commerce Protocol for agent-based transactions.
Google’s system uses Google Pay as the default handler for US dollar payments.