{"type":"agent_payments_stack_llm_summary","category":"agent_payments_stack","name":"Agent Payments Stack","methodology_version":"v1.0-aps","methodology_url":"https://agentcrush.xyz/methodology#agent_payments_stack","ranking_page_url":"https://agentcrush.xyz/rankings/agent-payments-stack","description":"A 6-layer map of the agent payments ecosystem — from settlement chains to application frameworks. Inspired by Keyrock's \"Who Pays the Agent?\" report (May 2026), kept live and methodology-disclosed.","layers":{"L0":{"name":"Settlement","weight":4,"description":"Settlement chain / network — where money actually moves."},"L1":{"name":"Wallets","weight":3,"description":"Agent key management + policy-gated signing."},"L2":{"name":"Routing","weight":2,"description":"Cross-chain bridging + abstraction."},"L3":{"name":"Protocol","weight":4,"description":"How the payment flow is structured (x402, MPP, AP2, etc)."},"L4":{"name":"Governance","weight":5,"description":"Authorisation, compliance, identity — most valuable layer."},"L5":{"name":"Application","weight":3,"description":"Frameworks, marketplaces, autonomous services."}},"scoring":{"method":"stack_coverage_score = sum of layer weights for each layer the project covers","layer_weights":{"L0":4,"L1":3,"L2":2,"L3":4,"L4":5,"L5":3},"rationale":"Governance (L4) is most valuable — sticky once deployed. Settlement (L0) and Protocol (L3) tie at 4 — both infrastructure-level. Application (L5) and Wallets (L1) at 3 — high but more substitutable. Routing (L2) at 2 — most commoditised."},"count":38,"projects":[{"rank":1,"slug":"coinbase","name":"Coinbase","description":"Public crypto platform. Created x402, operates Base, runs CDP facilitator, ships Agentic Wallets, listed as AP2 partner — spans 5/6 layers.","website_url":"https://www.coinbase.com","x_handle":"@coinbase","layers":["L0","L1","L2","L3","L4"],"layers_spanned":5,"stack_coverage_score":18,"backing_org":"Public (NASDAQ:COIN)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_api"},{"rank":2,"slug":"stripe","name":"Stripe","description":"Payments incumbent. Co-incubated Tempo L1, acquired Privy + Bridge, co-authored MPP. Spans 5/6 layers.","website_url":"https://www.stripe.com","x_handle":"@stripe","layers":["L0","L1","L2","L3","L4"],"layers_spanned":5,"stack_coverage_score":18,"backing_org":"Private","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":3,"slug":"circle","name":"Circle","description":"USDC issuer (98.6% of agent payment settlement). Spans 4/6 layers via Arc + CCTP + Nanopayments.","website_url":"https://www.circle.com","x_handle":"@circle","layers":["L0","L1","L2","L3"],"layers_spanned":4,"stack_coverage_score":13,"backing_org":"Public (NYSE:CRCL)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_api"},{"rank":4,"slug":"google-ap2","name":"Google AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol)","description":"Delegated authorisation framework via Verifiable Digital Credentials (\"Mandates\"). Announced Sept 2025 with 60+ partners.","website_url":"https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/ap2-payments-protocol","x_handle":"@googlecloud","layers":["L3","L4"],"layers_spanned":2,"stack_coverage_score":9,"backing_org":"Google","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":5,"slug":"brex","name":"Brex","description":"Programmable card infrastructure. Acquired by Capital One $5.15B (largest 2025 agent-payments-adjacent acq).","website_url":"https://www.brex.com","x_handle":"@brexHQ","layers":["L1","L4"],"layers_spanned":2,"stack_coverage_score":8,"backing_org":"Capital One (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Capital One","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":6,"slug":"ais-1","name":"AIS-1","description":"Open standard for AI agent identity, live on Base mainnet. Public comment period closes June 30 2026.","website_url":null,"x_handle":null,"layers":["L4"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":5,"backing_org":"Open / Base","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"self_reported"},{"rank":7,"slug":"amex-ace","name":"American Express ACE","description":"Agentic Commerce Experiences developer kit + Agent Purchase Protection (first card network to cover agent errors). Launched April 14 2026.","website_url":"https://www.americanexpress.com","x_handle":"@AmericanExpress","layers":["L4"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":5,"backing_org":"American Express","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":8,"slug":"erc-8004","name":"ERC-8004","description":"On-chain agent identity + reputation standard (proposed). Co-authored by Erik Reppel (x402 creator).","website_url":"https://eips.ethereum.org","x_handle":null,"layers":["L4"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":5,"backing_org":"Ethereum Magicians (open)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":9,"slug":"mastercard-agentic-tokens","name":"Mastercard Agentic Tokens","description":"Mastercard's agent-credential framework. Also acquired BVNK $1.8B.","website_url":"https://www.mastercard.com","x_handle":"@Mastercard","layers":["L4"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":5,"backing_org":"Mastercard","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":10,"slug":"visa-intelligent-commerce","name":"Visa Intelligent Commerce","description":"Tokenised card credentials for agents with programmable spend controls. Pilots 2025.","website_url":"https://corporate.visa.com/en/products/intelligent-commerce.html","x_handle":"@Visa","layers":["L4"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":5,"backing_org":"Visa","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":11,"slug":"acp-stripe-openai","name":"Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)","description":"OpenAI + Stripe protocol for agent commerce. Surfaced in Keyrock L3 column.","website_url":null,"x_handle":null,"layers":["L3"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"OpenAI + Stripe","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"marketplace_reported"},{"rank":12,"slug":"arc-circle","name":"Arc","description":"Circle's settlement chain optimized for nanopayments.","website_url":"https://www.circle.com/arc","x_handle":"@circle","layers":["L0"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Circle","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":13,"slug":"base-chain","name":"Base","description":"Coinbase L2. Dominant settlement chain for agent payments (74% of x402 volume, 119M of 161M x402 txns).","website_url":"https://base.org","x_handle":"@base","layers":["L0"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Coinbase","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"verified_onchain"},{"rank":14,"slug":"circle-nanopayments","name":"Circle Nanopayments","description":"Sub-cent payment primitive on Arc.","website_url":"https://www.circle.com","x_handle":"@circle","layers":["L3"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Circle","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":15,"slug":"mpp","name":"Machine Payments Protocol (MPP)","description":"Payment-method-agnostic agent payment protocol. Cards + crypto + Lightning + bank transfers via unified HTTP flow. Stripe + Tempo, March 18 2026.","website_url":"https://machinepayments.org","x_handle":"@machinepayments","layers":["L3"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Stripe + Tempo","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"self_reported"},{"rank":16,"slug":"solana","name":"Solana","description":"L1 carrying meaningful x402 + MPP volume. ~5.1% stablecoin supply, ~32.6% adjusted volume (~6x Ethereum velocity).","website_url":"https://solana.com","x_handle":"@solana","layers":["L0"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Solana Foundation","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"verified_onchain"},{"rank":17,"slug":"tempo","name":"Tempo","description":"Payments-focused L1, sub-second finality, <$0.001 fees. Co-author of MPP. $500M Series A at $5B val, March 2026.","website_url":"https://tempo.xyz","x_handle":"@tempo","layers":["L0"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Paradigm + Stripe","funding_usd_millions":500,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":18,"slug":"visanet","name":"VisaNet","description":"Visa's card processing network. Underlies Intelligent Commerce tokenized credentials for agents.","website_url":"https://www.visa.com","x_handle":"@Visa","layers":["L0"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Visa","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":19,"slug":"x402","name":"x402","description":"HTTP 402-native open protocol for stablecoin agent payments. Created by Coinbase May 2025. ~176M txns, ~$73M cumulative, 3,900 merchants.","website_url":"https://www.x402.org","x_handle":"@x402org","layers":["L3"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":4,"backing_org":"Coinbase / x402 Foundation (Linux Foundation)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"verified_onchain"},{"rank":20,"slug":"coinbase-agentkit","name":"Coinbase AgentKit","description":"Coinbase's agent wallet SDK. Tens of thousands of agents deployed with session caps + per-tx limits + allowlists.","website_url":"https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/agentkit","x_handle":"@coinbasedev","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Coinbase","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":21,"slug":"dynamic-xyz","name":"Dynamic","description":"Onchain account SDK powering 50M wallets for Kraken / Magic Eden / etc. Acquired by Fireblocks ~$90M October 2025.","website_url":"https://www.dynamic.xyz","x_handle":"@dynamic_xyz","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Fireblocks (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Fireblocks","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":22,"slug":"eliza-os","name":"ElizaOS","description":"Open-source agent framework, 63 repos. Originally incubated by ai16z.","website_url":"https://elizaos.ai","x_handle":"@elizaOS","layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"ai16z + open contributors","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":23,"slug":"felix","name":"Felix","description":"Agent framework — surfaced in Keyrock L5 panel.","website_url":null,"x_handle":null,"layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":null,"funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"marketplace_reported"},{"rank":24,"slug":"fetch-agent-launch","name":"Fetch.ai Agent Launch","description":"Bonding-curve launchpad for Agentverse-verified agent tokens on BNB Chain. Launched May 20 2026. 120 FET deploy, 30K FET → PancakeSwap graduation, LP burned at graduation.","website_url":"https://agent-launch.ai","x_handle":"@Fetch_ai","layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Fetch.ai / ASI Alliance","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"self_reported"},{"rank":25,"slug":"moonpay-ows","name":"MoonPay Open Wallet Standard","description":"Cross-chain wallet interop standard launched March 23 2026 with 15 contributors (PayPal, OKX, Solana Foundation, etc.).","website_url":"https://www.moonpay.com","x_handle":"@moonpay","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"MoonPay","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":26,"slug":"nansen-x402","name":"Nansen (x402 surface)","description":"Onchain analytics. Headless merchant via x402: $0.01/query in USDC on Base.","website_url":"https://agents.nansen.ai","x_handle":"@nansen","layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Nansen","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_api"},{"rank":27,"slug":"near-ai-wallets","name":"NEAR AI Wallets","description":"Agent wallet infra on NEAR.","website_url":"https://near.ai","x_handle":"@nearprotocol","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"NEAR Foundation","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":28,"slug":"olas","name":"Olas","description":"Autonomous-agent network on Gnosis Chain. Drives 75% of Safe transactions on peak days, 37% all-time.","website_url":"https://olas.network","x_handle":"@autonolas","layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Valory / Olas","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"verified_onchain"},{"rank":29,"slug":"privy","name":"Privy","description":"Embedded wallet provider, 75M crypto wallets. Acquired by Stripe June 2025.","website_url":"https://privy.io","x_handle":"@privy_io","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Stripe (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Stripe","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":30,"slug":"safe-wallet","name":"Safe","description":"Independent smart-account infra. 18.3M smart accounts, $100B+ secured, $600B in 2025 volume. 37% of Gnosis Safe txns by AI agents (Olas), peaks at 75%.","website_url":"https://safe.global","x_handle":"@safe","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Independent","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_api"},{"rank":31,"slug":"virtuals-protocol","name":"Virtuals Protocol","description":"Tokenised AI agent platform on Base. ~18,000 agents, ~$470M \"agentic GDP\" in VIRTUAL tokens. Already indexed in AgentCrush tokenized v1.1.","website_url":"https://virtuals.io","x_handle":"@virtuals_io","layers":["L5"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Virtuals","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"marketplace_reported"},{"rank":32,"slug":"zerodev","name":"ZeroDev","description":"ERC-7579 modular smart-account SDK. Acquired by Offchain Labs (Arbitrum).","website_url":"https://zerodev.app","x_handle":"@zerodev_app","layers":["L1"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":3,"backing_org":"Offchain Labs (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Offchain Labs","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":33,"slug":"bridge-stripe","name":"Bridge","description":"Stablecoin orchestration. Acquired by Stripe for $1.1B (largest crypto acq of 2025).","website_url":"https://bridge.xyz","x_handle":"@stablecoin","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"Stripe (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Stripe","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":34,"slug":"bvnk","name":"BVNK","description":"Stablecoin payment infra. Acquired by Mastercard $1.8B.","website_url":"https://www.bvnk.com","x_handle":"@BVNK_","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"Mastercard (acquired)","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":"Mastercard","evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":35,"slug":"circle-cctp","name":"Circle CCTP","description":"Cross-chain USDC transfer protocol. $126B+ lifetime volume per Keyrock.","website_url":"https://www.circle.com/cctp","x_handle":"@circle","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"Circle","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_api"},{"rank":36,"slug":"cow-protocol","name":"CoW Protocol","description":"Intent-based DEX aggregator with competing solver network. $33B+ lifetime volume, 30+ solver teams. Shields agent trades from MEV.","website_url":"https://cow.fi","x_handle":"@CoWSwap","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"CoW DAO","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"verified_onchain"},{"rank":37,"slug":"debridge","name":"deBridge","description":"Cross-chain bridging — $1B+ TVL surfaced in Keyrock L2 map.","website_url":"https://debridge.finance","x_handle":"@deBridgeFinance","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"Independent","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"},{"rank":38,"slug":"layerzero","name":"LayerZero","description":"Omnichain messaging. Acquired Stargate $120M.","website_url":"https://layerzero.network","x_handle":"@LayerZero_Labs","layers":["L2"],"layers_spanned":1,"stack_coverage_score":2,"backing_org":"Independent","funding_usd_millions":null,"acquired_by":null,"evidence_tier":"public_webpage"}],"limitations":["This is a project taxonomy, not an agent ranking. Projects are companies, protocols, and standards — not individual AI agents.","Layer coverage is determined by documented evidence as of the source date. Projects may cover more layers than currently documented.","Scores within this category are not comparable to scores in model_family, tokenized, service, or developer categories.","Source: Keyrock \"Who Pays the Agent?\" May 2026, extended by AgentCrush with Fetch Agent Launch, standards bodies, and additional infrastructure players."],"last_updated":"2026-06-01T22:43:43.860Z","source_urls":["https://agentcrush.xyz/rankings/agent-payments-stack","https://agentcrush.xyz/agent-payments-stack","https://agentcrush.xyz/methodology#agent_payments_stack"]}