Visa expects stablecoins to become a critical payment method for machine-to-machine transactions as autonomous AI agents begin purchasing digital services, computing power and data without direct human involvement.
A new report from Visa and blockchain analytics firm Artemis predicts that the emerging AI agent economy will rely on a hybrid payment model combining traditional card networks with stablecoin payment rails.
While cards are expected to remain dominant for larger consumer transactions, stablecoins could become the preferred option for frequent, low-value payments between software systems.
Visa Explores Payments in the Agentic Economy
Visa and Artemis published the research report, titled “Agentic Payments from the Ground Up,” on Wednesday.
The report examines the rise of agentic commerce, a model in which artificial intelligence agents can independently initiate, authorize and complete transactions on behalf of users or other software systems.
According to the research, agentic commerce will likely develop into two primary categories: macro-commerce and micro-commerce.
Macro-commerce refers to consumer-sized purchases made by AI agents on behalf of humans. These could include booking flights, renewing subscriptions, ordering products or managing recurring household expenses.
Micro-commerce, meanwhile, involves frequent payments—often worth less than one dollar—made directly between machines. Examples include paying for API requests, data access, cloud computing, storage or other digital resources.
Stablecoins Could Make Micropayments Economically Viable
Visa said existing card payment networks remain well suited for macro-commerce because they already provide established merchant acceptance, identity verification, authorization and consumer protection systems.
However, traditional payment rails may be less efficient for machine-native micropayments.
Fixed processing fees can make sub-dollar transactions economically impractical, particularly when AI agents need to conduct hundreds or thousands of payments in a short period.
Newer blockchain networks, by comparison, can settle transactions for fractions of a cent. This could make stablecoin micropayments a more practical solution for automated software services.
Stablecoins also allow digital systems to transfer value around the clock without relying on banking hours or traditional payment intermediaries.
Visa Predicts a Hybrid Card and Stablecoin Payment Model
Visa does not expect stablecoins to replace card payments entirely.
Instead, the payments giant predicts that the future of AI agent payments will involve both technologies serving different functions.
“In all likelihood, this won’t come down to a choice between cards and stablecoins. Both will have a place,” Visa said.
The company explained that cards are likely to remain the preferred payment method for larger purchases conducted within existing merchant networks.
Stablecoins, however, may be better suited for machine-native transactions involving small amounts and high payment frequency.
An AI travel agent, for example, could use a card to purchase an airline ticket while simultaneously using stablecoins to pay for individual API calls, pricing data or computing resources required to complete the booking.
Card and Crypto Payment Systems Are Already Converging
The report said the distinction between traditional payment infrastructure and blockchain-based payment systems is becoming increasingly blurred.
Card-focused technologies such as the Trusted Agent Protocol, Agent Payments Protocol and Visa Intelligent Commerce are beginning to support stablecoin functionality.
At the same time, crypto-native payment protocols are incorporating features traditionally associated with card networks, including identity verification, authorization controls and fraud protection.
“The line between these two camps is already getting harder to draw,” Visa wrote. “If anything, the two are starting to look less like rivals and more like parts of the same system.”
Visa said its goal is to support traditional card-based trust and authorization alongside blockchain-based settlement, allowing the two systems to operate together.
Trust Remains a Major Challenge for AI Agent Commerce
Despite the potential of autonomous commerce, Visa warned that trust, responsibility and dispute resolution remain significant challenges.
Traditional commerce systems generally assume that a human is making a purchase and can be held legally and financially responsible for the transaction.
AI agents complicate that assumption because they may act independently, interact with other agents and execute payments at machine speed.
“Existing legal and regulatory frameworks weren’t written with this kind of delegation in mind, and clear precedents may not be available yet,” Visa said.
It may also be difficult to determine responsibility when an AI agent makes an incorrect purchase, exceeds its authorization or interacts with another automated system that behaves unexpectedly.
Chargebacks May Not Work at Machine Speed
Current chargeback procedures and evidence requirements were designed for human transactions, which typically occur at a much slower pace.
Agentic systems could conduct thousands of transactions per hour across complex chains of software services.
The report noted that there is currently no widely accepted method for reversing disputed payments when multiple autonomous agents are involved.
Payment providers, regulators and technology companies may therefore need to develop new frameworks covering agent identity, transaction authorization, spending limits, liability and dispute resolution.
Visa Expands Its Stablecoin Strategy
Visa’s latest research comes as the company continues to deepen its involvement in the stablecoin sector.
The payments company recently joined Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Coinbase and other firms in launching Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin initiative designed to share most of the earnings generated from its reserves.
The project reflects growing interest among major financial and technology companies in using stablecoins for payments, settlement and programmable financial services.
Stablecoins Could Become the Payment Layer for AI Agents
Visa’s report suggests that the future of agentic commerce will not be built exclusively on cards or blockchain technology.
Instead, AI agents may use traditional payment networks for larger consumer purchases while relying on stablecoins for high-frequency, low-value machine transactions.
As autonomous software becomes more capable of purchasing data, computing resources and digital services, stablecoins could provide the low-cost and programmable payment infrastructure needed to support the rapidly developing AI agent economy.
