On February 11, 2025, a Stripe product manager announced the introduction of a specialized payment system tailored for AI agents. This system enables automated software to use USD Coin (USDC) stablecoins on the Base blockchain network to pay for digital services in US dollars.

The new feature leverages the x402 payment protocol, which repurposes the long-unused HTTP 402 ‘Payment Required’ status code. When an AI agent requests a paid service, it receives a structured payment request. Upon transferring USDC to the designated wallet address on Base, access is granted automatically, without the need for human intervention.

Technical Working Mechanism

Initially, businesses create a standard Stripe Payment Intent. Stripe assigns a unique wallet address for each transaction. Fund transfers to this address can be monitored in real time through the Stripe dashboard, webhooks, or the API. Upon confirmation, funds settle into the merchant’s Stripe balance just as conventional payments would. Stripe’s existing systems manage tax reporting, refunds, and compliance.

Base, an Ethereum-based network, is chosen for its fast settlement times and low transaction fees, making it ideal for frequent, small-value transactions such as per-request or per-minute billing models. This approach differs from traditional subscription or prepaid credit systems, which are less adept at supporting automated high-frequency transactions.

Stripe notes that current payment solutions were designed primarily with human users in mind and fall short when it comes to accommodating autonomous software needs. Fast, low-cost, and always-available payment channels free from manual oversight are crucial for AI agents.

Role in the Agent Economy

This development is part of Stripe’s broader strategy within what it calls the ‘agent economy’, a growing paradigm where software programs operate independently and manage their own financial transactions. In this model, agents are expected to autonomously purchase data, computing resources, and digital services without human intervention.

To ease developer integration, Stripe has provided an open-source command-line tool named ‘purl’, along with example code in Python and Node.js to facilitate testing machine-to-machine payments.

While the current implementation is limited to USDC on Base, Stripe plans to expand support for additional protocols, currencies, and blockchain networks. This move underscores a growing synergy between AI, fintech, and cryptocurrency infrastructure, with usage-based pricing models becoming more prevalent in machine-driven environments.