Paradigm, a US-based venture firm managing assets worth USD 12.7 billion, and Stripe, the USD 159 billion payments company, have recently introduced Tempo, a blockchain-focused payment system, along with the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), an open standard intended to facilitate autonomous transactions by AI agents.
MPP was first unveiled in September 2025. It simplifies the interaction between AI agents and service providers by allowing direct payment instructions exchange, thereby eliminating the need for account creation, card input, billing forms, and manual verification steps required by conventional systems. An illustrative scenario includes a coding assistant automatically requesting additional computing resources from a cloud provider, receiving an offer, making the payment directly, and accessing the necessary services—all without human intervention.
Multi-rail support and ecosystem partners
MPP’s uniqueness lies in its ability to operate across multiple payment channels right from its inception. Visa has expanded MPP’s capabilities by integrating it into their network for card payments, while Lightspark has adapted the protocol for Bitcoin transactions over the Lightning Network. This means that AI agents using MPP can execute payments via various options including stablecoins, traditional credit cards, or Bitcoin, contingent upon the specific requirements and parties involved.
MPP is currently integrated into over 100 services, covering areas like model providers, developer tools, compute platforms, and data vendors. Key partners in Tempo’s ecosystem include Anthropic, DoorDash, Mastercard, Nubank, OpenAI, Ramp, Revolut, Shopify, and Standard Chartered.
While entering a market where similar standards already exist, MPP stands out by incorporating card and Bitcoin payment rails alongside stablecoin settlement. In comparison, Coinbase and Cloudflare launched x402, a comparable protocol in May 2025, which has processed around USD 34 million to date, primarily in the form of stablecoins.
The commercial appeal stems from expectations about the rise of agentic commerce. According to McKinsey, by 2030, AI agents are anticipated to oversee transactions worth between USD 3 trillion and USD 5 trillion globally, characterized by smaller, faster, and more frequent payments as opposed to larger, infrequent ones.
