Overview
- While AI agents can suggest products and organize tasks, they often lack the ability to complete purchases, highlighting the need for new payment systems in the developing "agentic economy."
- XDC Network’s XDC AI integrates the open x402 standard with "gasless" USDC settlements, allowing AI agents to make payments upon request without needing accounts or human intervention.
- The XDC Network showcased this marketplace at an event in New York, attended by over 100 industry professionals, as noted by co-founder Atul Khekade.
Current AI assistants can help with planning trips, drafting emails, or finding nearby coffee shops, but they typically cannot handle the transaction of buying that coffee.
This limitation underscores a critical gap in the "agentic economy," where AI agents are expected to perform tasks on behalf of users, including booking services and conducting transactions. To facilitate this, AI agents require a reliable, instant, and programmable method for financial transactions.
Despite AI companies raising substantial funds, much of their technology remains within what is termed the "knowledge layer," focusing on generating suggestions rather than executing actions.
"They’re not actually doing actions for you, and that’s for a reason," explained Atul Khekade, co-founder of XDC Network, during a recent FintechTV interview. He highlighted issues related to "real-time settlement, compliance, dispute resolution, KYC, AML, and the necessary trust layer for AI operations." This gap is prompting companies ranging from credit card networks to cryptocurrency startups to seek solutions.