Catenaa, Friday, September 19, 2025- Google unveiled an open-source protocol enabling AI agents to perform financial transactions, backed by Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, PayPal, and American Express.
The Agent Payments Protocol, or AP2, extends Google’s earlier Agent2Agent framework, which standardizes interactions between AI agents.
The new protocol adds payment support, allowing agents to transact via credit cards, stablecoins, and real-time bank transfers. A crypto-specific extension, x402, integrates Ethereum for secure, verifiable transactions.
The Ethereum Foundation said the x402 extension complements its ERC-8004 standard, designed to let AI agents discover, verify, and transact on the Ethereum network.
AP2 aims to create a platform-agnostic “common language” for secure, compliant transactions between agents, merchants, and users.
Google’s initiative is backed by a mix of traditional and crypto firms. Coinbase highlighted stablecoin payments as a starting point for agent-to-agent transactions, while PayPal, American Express, Mysten Labs, MetaMask, and Eigen Labs also supported the project.
The protocol is intended to accelerate the AI agent economy and adoption of digital assets within automated systems.
Developers will be able to implement AP2 across multiple platforms and currencies, with the x402 extension simplifying the experience for Ethereum-based agents.
The protocol is expected to help create a financial ecosystem where AI agents handle increasingly complex transactions autonomously.
Google emphasized that the protocol is open-source and designed to foster collaboration across industries.
