## Google Launches AI Payments Protocol, Embracing Stablecoins and Interoperability **News Title:** Google releases AI payments protocol that includes support for stablecoins, partners include Coinbase and Salesforce | Fortune Crypto **Report Provider:** Fortune **Author:** Ben Weiss **Date:** Published September 16, 2025, 13:00:44 UTC ### Executive Summary Google has introduced a new open-source payments protocol designed to facilitate seamless money transfers between different AI applications. This protocol supports both traditional payment methods like credit and debit cards, as well as cryptocurrencies, specifically stablecoins. The initiative aims to standardize agent-to-agent transactions, ensuring security and intended outcomes as AI systems increasingly interact autonomously. Google collaborated with key players in the crypto and tech industries, including Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation, to ensure interoperability and incorporate emerging payment capabilities. ### Key Findings and Conclusions * **New AI Payments Protocol:** Google has launched an open-source protocol to simplify payments between AI applications. * **Broad Payment Support:** The protocol accommodates traditional payment methods (credit/debit cards) and cryptocurrencies, with a particular focus on stablecoins. * **Interoperability Focus:** A core objective is to enable different AI "agents" (AI algorithms designed for specific tasks) to communicate and transact with each other securely. * **Building on Existing Frameworks:** This payment protocol builds upon a previous protocol released by Google in April that established a standard for agent communication. * **Industry Collaboration:** Google partnered with over 60 organizations, including major tech companies like Salesforce and American Express, as well as crypto entities like Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation. ### Critical Information and Context * **Stablecoin Integration:** The inclusion of stablecoins is a significant aspect, reflecting a growing trend in both the crypto and tech sectors. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets, such as the U.S. dollar, offering price stability. * **Agent-to-Agent Transactions:** The protocol is designed for a future where AI agents will increasingly interact without human intervention. Examples include AI financial advisors negotiating mortgages or AI personal shoppers interacting with AI shopkeepers. * **Security and Trust:** James Tromans, Head of Web3 at Google Cloud, emphasized that the protocol ensures transactions between AI agents are "safe, secure, and what the humans on either end intended." * **Coinbase Partnership:** Google collaborated with crypto exchange Coinbase, which has its own AI and crypto payments scheme, to ensure their systems are interoperable. Erik Reppel, Head of Engineering at Coinbase's developer platform, stated, "We’re all working to figure out how we can make AI transmit value to each other." * **Broader Industry Trend:** Google is among several Big Tech companies exploring stablecoin integrations, with other firms like Apple, Airbnb, and Meta also showing interest. Shopify announced plans to roll out stablecoin payments to its users later in the year. ### Notable Partnerships and Collaborations * **Coinbase:** Key partner for stablecoin interoperability. * **Ethereum Foundation:** Collaborated on elements of the new payment protocol. * **Salesforce:** One of over 60 organizations consulted. * **American Express:** One of over 60 organizations consulted. * **Etsy:** One of over 60 organizations consulted. ### Future Implications The development of this AI payments protocol signifies a significant step towards enabling a more autonomous and interconnected digital economy, where AI agents can conduct financial transactions independently. This could streamline various services, from financial planning to e-commerce, by removing human intermediaries in certain processes. The emphasis on open-source and interoperability suggests a move towards industry-wide standards for AI-driven financial interactions.
Google releases AI payments protocol that includes support for stablecoins, partners include Coinbase and Salesforce | Fortune Crypto
Read original at Fortune →Google on Tuesday released a new payments scheme to make it easier for different AI apps to send and receive money. The open-source protocol not only includes support for more traditional forms of payments like credit and debit cards but also stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the U.
S. dollar. To add compatibility with stablecoins, Google worked with the crypto exchange Coinbase, which has built its own AI and crypto payments scheme. It also collaborated with other crypto companies, including the Ethereum Foundation. For other elements of the new payment protocol, Google conferred with more than 60 other organizations including Salesforce, American Express, and Etsy.
“The way we built it is from the ground up to factor in both heritage and existing payment rail capabilities as well as forthcoming capabilities such as stablecoins,” James Tromans, the head of Web3 at Google Cloud, told Fortune. In the buzzword-laden world of AI, “agents’ are AI algorithms designed for specific use cases that can call up apps on one’s device or across the internet.
Some companies have created agents that specialize in writing code. Others have created AI agents that browse online marketplaces to buy, say, clothes for a human shopper. Many tech executives predict that, in the near future, AI will increasingly talk with AI, with no humans in between. If this comes to pass, AI financial advisors could talk with AI representatives at different financial institutions to find mortgages for housebuyers, or AI personal shoppers could chat with AI shopkeepers to find the perfect pair of jeans for sharp dressers.
That’s why Google released in April a new protocol that creates a standard means for different agents to communicate with each other. Tuesday’s launch of a protocol for agent-to-agent payments builds on that framework and ensures that transactions between two AI agents are safe, secure, and what the humans on either end intended, said Tromans, the Google executive.
Coinbase and Google worked together to make sure their payments schemes were interoperable, Erik Reppel, head of engineering at Coinbase’s developer platform, told Fortune. “We’re all working to figure out how we can make AI transmit value to each other,” said Reppel. Google is one of the more public Big Tech companies that have shown interest in stablecoins, one of the buzziest sectors in crypto and Silicon Valley.
Amid a more crypto-friendly presidential administration in the U.S., other tech firms like Apple, Airbnb, and Meta have all explored stablecoin integrations. And in June, Shopify announced that it would roll out stablecoin payments to its users later in the year. On the new Fortune Crypto Playbook vodcast, Fortune’s senior crypto experts decode the biggest forces shaping crypto today.
Watch or listen now
