Crypto is a ‘Fantastic Machine-Readable Interface for Payments,’ Says Google Executive at Consensus 2026

Senior executives from PayPal and Google said at the Consensus Miami 2026 conference that the next phase of ‘agentic commerce’ – where AI agents autonomously complete purchases and transactions on behalf of users – is likely to run on cryptocurrency payment rails and open financial protocols.

Speaking during a panel discussion, representatives from PayPal and Google Cloud said

• machine-readable merchant catalogs,
• programmable payments, and
• interoperable digital asset infrastructure

would form the backbone of AI-driven commerce systems.

The executives argued that traditional payment systems were not designed for autonomous software agents capable of independently shopping, negotiating prices, and executing transactions online. Instead, they said stablecoins, crypto wallets, and open-source payment standards could provide the infrastructure needed for machine-to-machine commerce.

Citing the technological and regulatory challenges and barriers that exist today, Richard Widmann, Global Head of Web3 Strategy at Google Cloud, said:

“An agent cannot get a bank account. It’s not hard, it just is impossible. [Crypto, by contrast, is] a fantastic machine readable interface for payments.”

Built for this reality, Google launched the Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), an open protocol similar to the x402 internet-native payment standard.

“Open dialogues and open standards are really the foundation you need to build on,” said Widmann.

According to recent PayPal survey, 95% of merchants now see AI agent traffice on their sites with only 20% of the sites having agent-readable catalogs.

“Merchants need to be ready for this next era,” said the PayPal executive at the conference.

Exposing their sites and product catalogs was compared to the shift from offline to online stores.

The comments come as major technology and financial firms increasingly explore ‘agentic commerce,’ an emerging model in which AI systems handle end-to-end commercial activities with limited human involvement. Industry participants say the trend could reshape online shopping, payments, and digital advertising.

The discussion at Consensus Miami also highlighted growing interest in open commerce protocols and multi-party crypto custody systems designed to support AI-native payments securely and compliantly.

The conference has featured multiple discussions around AI agents and crypto infrastructure with speakers from across the digital asset industry arguing that blockchain networks and stablecoins may become foundational rails for what some describe as an emerging ‘AI machine economy.’

Stay tuned to BitKE for deeper insights into the evolving crypto space.

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