Jesse Pollak: AI agents are the next wave in crypto payments

In an interview, Jesse Pollak, head of the Base chain, stated that AI agents are rapidly gaining autonomy and increasingly require native, programmable payment systems. Currently, approximately $48 million in payments have flowed through the x402 protocol, with about 95% of these transactions occurring on the Base network. Pollak pointed out that the x402 open-source payment protocol, developed by Coinbase in collaboration with Microsoft, Google, and Mastercard, enables on-demand API payments without the need for traditional subscription systems. This crypto infrastructure allows AI agents to move funds instantly and at low cost globally for services such as data access, computing, or travel bookings. Its long-term vision is to create an open marketplace of services that enables software to discover and purchase digital services in real time without human intervention.