Svmuu News: Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Innovation at investment management firm Franklin Templeton, stated that the AI agent economy will increase demand for blockchain protocols to facilitate machine-to-machine micropayments. Traditional bank card networks are not suitable for agent-based payments due to fees and settlement times.
Sandy Kaul pointed out that blockchain networks such as Aptos, Solana, and BNB Chain are better suited for the agent economy, as their transactions can settle within seconds—faster than the 1- to 3-business-day settlement time of the Visa network.
In a joint report, payment company Visa and investment research platform Artemis stated that traditional bank cards, designed for low-frequency human commercial activities, are insufficient to support AI agents, which require near-zero fees and faster settlement. Coinbase The x402 payment protocol, developed by , has recorded an adjusted transaction volume of $15 million and over 109 million adjusted transactions since its launch in May 2025.