At #Davos this week, #Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire shared a prediction that’s quickly becoming one of the most talked-about ideas in tech and crypto: within the next five years, billions of autonomous AI agents could be using stablecoins to handle everyday transactions on behalf of users.

According to Allaire, #AI systems won’t rely on traditional payment rails like cards or banking APIs—they’ll default to stablecoins because they offer the speed, programmability, and global reach that autonomous agents need. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao echoed that view, noting that crypto is the most “native” financial layer for AI-driven behavior.

What’s striking is how quickly big players are moving to prepare for this shift. Coinbase has already introduced its x402 protocol to enable stablecoin payments between AI agents, while Google recently announced a Universal Commerce Protocol designed to power agentic transactions through Google Pay.

As both crypto-native firms and traditional tech giants race to build the infrastructure for AI commerce, one thing is becoming clear: the intersection of AI and #stablecoins may define the next major evolution in digital payments.