At the CoinDesk Consensus Miami conference, senior executives from Google Cloud and PayPal emphasized the necessity of open payment protocols and machine-readable merchant catalogs to facilitate the rise of agentic commerce, which they argue will increasingly rely on cryptocurrency.
Richard Widmann, the global head of Web3 strategy at Google Cloud, stated that current internet user experiences do not accommodate autonomous agents. He noted, “An agent cannot get a bank account. It’s not hard, it just is impossible,” highlighting both technological and regulatory challenges. In contrast, he described cryptocurrency as a “fantastic machine-readable interface for payments.”
To bridge this gap, Google has introduced the Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), which has been contributed to the FIDO Foundation and boasts over 120 partners, including PayPal. Widmann likened this initiative to the x402 internet-native payment standard that was provided to the Linux Foundation, asserting that open dialogues and standards are essential for future development.
May Zabaneh, senior vice president and general manager of crypto at PayPal, discussed the company’s perspective on agents as the next evolution in commerce, following its transition from offline to online and mobile platforms. She described PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, as a “natural programmable layer for payments,” particularly in light of globalization and the increasing prevalence of AI-driven experiences and tokenized assets.
Zabaneh referenced a recent PayPal survey indicating that 95% of merchants are now experiencing AI agent traffic on their websites, yet only 20% possess machine-readable catalogs. She emphasized the need for merchants to adapt to this new era, drawing parallels to the shift from physical to digital retail.
On the topic of liability, she acknowledged the industry’s need to address accountability when agents make erroneous purchases. Widmann added that multi-party custody is becoming crucial in the design of agent systems. Google has expanded its Cloud KMS platform to include cryptocurrency custody, proposing that agents should only hold fragments of private keys rather than complete access. He stated, “It cannot simply unilaterally move funds or take action.”
When asked about their concerns, Widmann expressed the challenge of integrating agents into existing capital markets and payment infrastructures. Zabaneh mentioned that trust is a significant concern for her, although she personally looks forward to the efficiencies that agentic commerce could bring to daily life.
Executives from PayPal and Google Cloud at the Consensus Miami conference outlined the potential of cryptocurrency in shaping future commerce. They emphasized the importance of open protocols and machine-readable catalogs to accommodate autonomous agents in the evolving digital marketplace.