Mastercard has unveiled a new payment system for AI agents, designed to permit secure and permissioned transactions to be settled across its payment network at machine speed. Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M) envisions a future in which businesses create services AI agents can buy and use. Operating at machine speed, these agents will transact continuously with each other at high speed, executing trains of transactions including microtransactions. Mastercard said in a statement that it believes this will “unlock a massive new wave of innovation, business models and economic activity, where any company, from solopreneurs to the largest enterprises, can become a virtual powerhouse.” It gives the example of a florist…
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Exodus Launches Stablecoin Designed for AI Agents
XO Cash stablecoin allows purchases without private key control
Crypto wallet maker Exodus Movement has launched a new stablecoin designed expressly for AI agent commerce. The Solana-based XO Cash stablecoin and its software toolkit will let AI agents make payments without giving them control over private keys. Built with the on-and-off-ramp fintech MoonPay, XO Cash lets developers create wallets linked to an agent while setting spending limits and issuing Visa-branded virtual debit cards. Agents spend directly from their Exodus Pay balances without ever holding or managing a private key. Users can set rules, including daily spending limits, per-transaction limits, allowed merchants, and rate limits. Exodus said there are no transaction fees, making the XO Cash wallets suitable for agents…
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Coinbase Announces Global Stablecoin Payments Partnership
Western Union ready to launch stablecoin
Crypto exchange Coinbase has partnered with real-time cross-border payments firm Nium to bring stablecoin payments to its 190-plus country network. The goal is to replace the slow and costly SWIFT-based traditional banking services, which can take days to complete. The transactions can be made in stablecoins and paid out in local fiat currencies. Coinbase brings wallet infrastructure, stablecoin liquidity, custody, and on-ramps to Nium, as well as handling regulatory compliance. The system will use Circle’s USDC stablecoins. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin issuer, with almost $78 billion in circulation. So far the partnership is aimed at providing business and banking customers with real-time payment capabilities, freeing them from the need…
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Open Web DApp platform NEAR completion
Andreessen Horowitz led a $21.6 million funding round for NEAR Protocol, a platform that allows decentralized applications to tokenize anything from game assets to stock certificates
The funding round announced on May 4 will enable Switzerland-based NEAR to continue developing a platform that enables decentralized application builders to write, test, and deploy their DApps in a matter of minutes.
