Visa Sees Stablecoins Powering AI-Driven Micropayments as Agentic Commerce Expands
Visa believes the future of AI-powered commerce will rely on a combination of traditional payment networks and stablecoins, with each serving different types of transactions as autonomous software agents become more common.
In a research report published alongside analytics firm Artemis, Visa explored the rise of "agentic commerce"—an emerging model where AI agents can independently make purchasing decisions, execute payments, and complete transactions without direct human involvement.
According to the report, this new ecosystem will develop along two distinct paths. The first, referred to as macro-commerce, covers everyday consumer activities such as booking flights, paying subscriptions, or shopping online, where AI acts on behalf of a user. The second, micro-commerce, focuses on software-to-software payments involving extremely small transactions, such as paying for API requests, computing power, or other digital services.
Visa argues that while existing card infrastructure remains ideal for larger consumer purchases, it is less practical for tiny transactions because processing fees often outweigh the payment itself. Stablecoins, operating on modern blockchain networks with settlement costs measured in fractions of a cent, offer a far more efficient alternative for these high-frequency micropayments.
Rather than viewing traditional payment systems and blockchain-based assets as competitors, Visa expects both technologies to work together.
The company believes payment flows in agentic commerce will increasingly combine card networks for user authorization and consumer-facing purchases with stablecoins for machine-to-machine settlements happening behind the scenes.
Visa also noted that this convergence is already underway. Payment initiatives originally built around card networks—including Trusted Agent Protocol, Agent Payments Protocol, and Visa Intelligent Commerce—are beginning to integrate stablecoin functionality. At the same time, blockchain-focused payment projects are adopting security and trust mechanisms commonly found in traditional financial systems.
As these technologies evolve, Visa expects the distinction between conventional payments and crypto-powered settlement to become less noticeable, creating a more unified financial ecosystem.
The company says its long-term objective is to combine the trust, identity verification, and authorization features of card payments with the speed and efficiency of blockchain-based settlement, allowing both systems to operate seamlessly together.
Despite the technological progress, Visa acknowledged that significant hurdles remain before agentic commerce can become mainstream.
One of the biggest challenges is accountability. Today's payment systems are built around human decision-makers who can authorize purchases and assume legal and financial responsibility. Autonomous AI agents introduce new questions about liability when software makes purchasing decisions on behalf of individuals or businesses.
The report also highlights gaps in existing legal and regulatory frameworks, which were not designed for autonomous payment agents operating independently. As a result, rules governing responsibility, disputes, and consumer protections remain largely undefined.
Dispute resolution presents another obstacle. Current chargeback processes and fraud protections are designed for transactions initiated by people, often allowing days or weeks for investigations. In contrast, AI agents could complete thousands of interconnected payments every hour, making it unclear how disputed transactions could be reversed or audited under existing systems.
The report suggests that addressing these governance and trust issues will be just as important as improving payment technology itself.
Visa's research comes as interest in stablecoins continues to accelerate across the financial industry. The payments giant recently joined companies including Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase in supporting Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin initiative designed to distribute a significant portion of reserve-generated earnings back to participants, signaling growing institutional commitment to blockchain-based payment infrastructure.