AI to hold wallets, execute on-chain payments… MoonPay unveils ‘Agents’ service

YM Lee

Summary

MoonPay said it has unveiled “MoonPay Agents,” a non-custodial software layer that lets AI directly handle digital assets and execute on-chain transactions.
MoonPay said it aims to combine programmable wallets with AI to enable automated trading and payments, targeting direct interaction with DeFi and blockchain applications.
Bloomberg reported that Intercontinental Exchange is discussing a potential investment in MoonPay, and that MoonPay is pursuing fundraising at around a $5 billion valuation.

MoonPay, a crypto payments and stablecoin infrastructure company, has unveiled a new software layer that enables AI systems to directly hold digital assets and execute on-chain transactions.

According to Cointelegraph on the 24th (local time), MoonPay launched “MoonPay Agents.” The product is designed with a non-custodial architecture; once funds are loaded, an AI agent can create a wallet, store digital assets, and carry out on-chain transactions without any separate human intervention.

Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay’s founder and CEO, said, “AI agents can reason, but without capital infrastructure they can’t take economic action,” adding that the product is “permissionless, non-custodial infrastructure.”

Until now, existing AI systems have largely been limited to data analysis or generating recommendations, with humans responsible for executing actual trades. MoonPay’s concept is to combine programmable wallets with AI to enable automated trading and payments. The company said this lays the groundwork for AI to interact directly with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and blockchain applications.

Interest in stablecoins and blockchain payment infrastructure is also expanding across traditional finance. Bloomberg reported that Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, held early-stage discussions about a potential investment in MoonPay. MoonPay is said to be seeking fundraising at a valuation of around $5 billion.

The World Economic Forum projected that the AI agent market could grow to $236 billion by 2034. A McKinsey survey found that about a quarter of companies said they are expanding their use of AI agents.

Cointelegraph analyzed that if AI agents carry out economic decision-making, stablecoins and blockchain networks are likely to play a central role as the underlying payment rails. Related infrastructure has also emerged, including Ethereum’s ERC-8004 standard, which assigns on-chain identities to AI agents, and Coinbase’s x402 protocol, which supports automated stablecoin payments.