Crypto transactions made by AI agents through x402 on the Base network have exceeded 138 million, and the data shows these programs are paying for data, computing power, and digital services.
According to a report published by Chainalysis on October 14, AI agents that carry out automated tasks are no longer just generating responses; they’re buying the services they need with crypto. Coinbase-developed x402 payment protocol allows these programs to pay for digital services without human intervention.
A significant share of these purchases consists of small amounts that are difficult to process economically through traditional card networks. More than 87 percent of the x402 payments examined ranged from one-hundredth of a cent to 10 cents. Stablecoins allow AI agents to make payments this small for every data or computing request.
Total payments reached $24 million across 75 million transactions
During an approximately 30-day period in July, x402 recorded 75 million payments and $24 million in volume. Although the transaction count is high, the amounts are still small; moreover, questions about artificial transaction activity have arisen in previous research, so it is not possible to consider all of these figures genuine commercial demand.
Wallet usage patterns are also changing. The average time between receiving funds and making a first x402 payment fell from 73 days at the end of 2025 to 18 minutes in the third quarter of 2026. This metric does not show how quickly a payment is completed on the network; it shows how long a funded wallet takes to begin making payments.
Approximately 89 percent of wallets first funded in the second quarter of 2026 received funding again within 30 days. For wallets first funded in the third quarter of 2025, the rate was approximately 71 percent. Wallets that made payments on only one day were excluded from this comparison.
The U.S. led in AI model usage, while China led in code analysis
Approximately 88 percent of AI model usage payments with an identifiable geographic connection came from U.S.-linked wallets. The share of Chinese-linked wallets in the same category was 0.1 percent.
The picture was reversed for security and code analysis services: Chinese-linked wallets accounted for approximately 90 percent of payments with an identifiable geographic connection. A significant share of these transactions went to AgentLisa, a service that audits smart contracts. The data covers transactions traceable through x402, not the entire global AI payments market.
Not investment advice.