Identity checks to power AI stablecoin payments added to Coinbase-incubated x402

Concordium has added ID checks to stablecoin payments, enabling AI systems to purchase restricted goods and services online.

Update (Dec. 2, 16:20 UTC): This article has been updated to clarify that x402 was initially incubated by Coinbase and is not owned by the exchange.

Concordiums identity and age-verification system has added support for x402 in a move aimed at enabling AI agents to make automated stablecoin payments.

Announced Tuesday, the integration is designed to allow AI-powered applications to pay for goods and services that require identity verification, including travel bookings, online content, video games and other age-restricted services.

Concordium CEO Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki said the partnership is intended “to enable verified stablecoin payments at scale.”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, x402 is a protocol that enables pay-per-use payments on the internet.

Initially developed by Coinbase and unveiled in May, the open protocol is designed to function as a stablecoin payment standard over HTTP, the basic system used to send and receive data across the web, allowing payments to be made directly through standard web requests without logins or complex authentication steps.

Concordium has also expanded its age-verification tools through other partnerships, including a recent deal with Bitcoin.com, which seeks to enable verified stablecoin payments across the platforms network of over 75 million wallets.

Source: Vitto Rivabella

AI emerges as major new user of stablecoins

Stablecoins are among the first blockchain-based products to gain mainstream adoption, with the total value of fiat-pegged tokens in circulation now exceeding $300 billion. However, industry leaders now suggest that the next major driver of stablecoin usage may not be people; it may be artificial intelligence.

That shift was recently highlighted by Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, who told Bloomberg that “in the not-so-distant future, the biggest user of stablecoins is going to be AI.”

Major technology companies are already moving in that direction. Google has developed an open-source protocol that allows AI applications to send and receive stablecoin payments directly, signaling growing interest in machine-to-machine commerce.

The Ethereum Foundation has also pointed to the role stablecoins could play in powering AI-based systems, saying that “autonomous agents are about to become Ethereums biggest power users.”

Meanwhile, agentic finance protocol Beep recently launched a wallet on the Sui network, enabling AI agents to send and receive stablecoin payments with zero transaction fees.

Source: Sui Network