Crypto rails power future agentic commerce, say execs

Representatives from PayPal and Google Cloud believe that cryptocurrency rails are essential for the future of agentic commerce, as AI agents cannot currently access traditional financial systems. They highlighted the need for open payment protocols and machine-readable merchant catalogs to facilitate this evolution. Google has introduced the Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), now with over 120 partners including PayPal, to address these challenges. This initiative aims to create a standardized, programmable layer for AI-driven transactions, mirroring past shifts in online and mobile commerce. The development also raises questions about liability and trust in agentic transactions.