Autonomous agents powered by artificial intelligence are poised to become the "biggest power user" of the Ethereum blockchain, according to developers at Coinbase. This prediction stems from the convergence of AI advancements and blockchain technology, particularly the leveraging of a largely forgotten web standard known as HTTP 402.
The HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status, defined around 30 years ago, combined with Ethereum Improvement Proposal 3009, enables AI agents to autonomously make stablecoin transfers without human intervention. Coinbase has already implemented HTTP 402 via its "x402 payments protocol". This is transformative because AI agents can now autonomously access funds to pay for services, removing the need for human intervention in managing API calls, storage, or computation.
Coinbase's vision extends to a future where AI agents possess the financial independence to transact through cryptocurrency wallets, reshaping digital economies through autonomous, AI-driven systems. A significant limitation hindering the widespread adoption of AI systems today is the lack of financial autonomy. AI agents cannot open bank accounts or possess credit cards, restricting their ability to handle resources or purchase services independently. Cryptocurrency wallets for AI agents remove these barriers, enabling them to interact with open marketplaces and transact with stablecoins. This financial independence allows AI agents to pay bills, subscribe to services, and acquire digital assets, acting as autonomous economic entities across various industries.
To facilitate the integration of AI and blockchain, Coinbase has introduced AgentKit, a framework that allows developers to create AI agents capable of autonomously interacting with blockchain networks. AgentKit is a model-agnostic tool that supports multiple Large Language Model (LLM) providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic's Claude, and Llama, giving developers the freedom to choose the AI model that best suits their needs. Built on the Coinbase Developer Platform SDK, AgentKit provides native access to comprehensive blockchain functionality, ensuring reliable and secure on-chain operations. The framework's intuitive template structure allows developers to quickly add custom capabilities to their agents while preserving clean, maintainable code.
Coinbase has also unveiled "Based Agent," a tool that enables developers to create AI-powered crypto agents in under three minutes. Built on Base, Coinbase's layer-2 network, Based Agent utilizes technologies like OpenAI and Replit. Developers only need to provide API keys from Coinbase and OpenAI, along with a Replit template, to start building customized AI agents capable of executing complex crypto operations. Based Agent is also supported on other blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum.
The potential applications of AI agents on Ethereum are vast. They could enable self-driving taxis to cover their own costs, AI models to generate content on demand, and apps to automatically use stablecoins to store data permanently. AI agents are already trading crypto by analyzing market data, executing buy or sell orders, and optimizing portfolios in real-time without human intervention. This functionality can be compared to a vending machine; an AI agent receives an HTTP 402 request, signs a transaction, and makes a payment to get the response, effectively turning the API into a wallet-aware service.
Ethereum's trustless settlement layer makes it the ideal blockchain for HTTP 402 implementation, making invoices and dispute chargebacks far more efficient than traditional systems. The Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP) and AI advancements are reshaping blockchain development by making it more accessible and secure, empowering a new generation of builders to create innovative on-chain applications. By simplifying crypto engineering, CDP and AI make on-chain development accessible to a broader audience, enabling creativity and world-class security.
