Ripple has released a developer toolkit for building “agent payments” applications on the XRP Ledger, aiming to let AI agents execute automated financial transactions.
According to ChainCatcher, the company said AI agents are already being used to pay for computing resources, settle invoices, and complete transactions without human intervention, increasing demand for machine-oriented payment infrastructure such as wallets and stablecoin payment rails.
Ripple said traditional payment systems are designed around human initiation and approval, while AI agents require fast settlement, predictable outcomes, and workflows that do not rely on manual authorization. The toolkit also supports payments based on the x402 protocol, enabling settlement using XRP and Ripple USD.
Separately, Robinhood introduced a plan this week that allows users to test AI agents executing stock trades, with an intention to expand to crypto assets in the future. MetaMask also announced a non-custodial wallet solution designed for AI agents.
Researchers from the IC3 team, drawn from multiple universities, said that while combining AI with blockchain can enable automated transactions, AI agents still depend heavily on humans and underlying infrastructure and are not fully independent.