Google and Coinbase releases an AI payments protocol with support for stablecoins

Google has released the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a new open-source payment system intended to make it easier for different AI apps to send and receive payments. The payment service supports payment options like credit cards, debit cards, and stablecoins. 

According to Google, “AP2 is an open, shared protocol that provides a common language for secure, compliant transactions between agents and merchants, helping to prevent a fragmented ecosystem. It also supports different payment types [..] This helps ensure a consistent, secure, and scalable experience for users and merchants, while also providing financial institutions with the clarity they need to effectively manage risk.”

To incorporate stablecoin rails, Google teamed up with US-based crypto exchange Coinbase, which has been developing its own AI-integrated payments infrastructure. 

Google collaborates with over 60 companies

Google has also collaborated with the Ethereum Foundation and over 60 companies, including Adyen, American Express, Ant International, Etsy, Forter, Intuit, JCB, Mastercard, Mysten Labs, PayPal, Revolut, Salesforce, ServiceNow, UnionPay International, Worldpay, and more, to cover traditional finance use cases.

Google’s Web3 head, James Tromans, said the system was built from the ground up to work with old payment systems and upcoming capabilities such as stablecoins. Also, Erik Reppel, head of Coinbase Developer Platform Engineering, said that the companies took steps to ensure interoperability between Google’s payment mechanisms and those of Coinbase.

The initiative builds on what Google has already done to set a standard for “AI agents.” These agents can already write code or browse online marketplaces, and now they could buy goods or pay for services on their own. Tech executives predict that AI-to-AI interactions will soon become common, with no manual steps needed.

The most recent update adds financial transactions to that framework. These digital agents might be able to do complex tasks like shopping for clothes or negotiating mortgages without direct human input.

The other goal is to make sure that payments are safe, can be used with other systems, and are carried out with the user’s purpose in mind. 

Now, the combination of credit card rails and crypto support will make the protocol adaptable for global users. With both tech and financial giants backing it, adoption could accelerate across different platforms quickly.

The GENIUS Act pulls big fish into the stablecoin market

Google’s trial shows that the stablecoin market is becoming more active. Circle’s oversubscribed IPO earlier this year showed that investors were very much interested. Some have even said that stablecoins are a “monetary revolution in the making.”

This is because the GENIUS Act became law, which makes US laws more crypto-friendly. This is why Big Tech is interested in stablecoins more. Since July 2025, when the GENIUS Act set up the first government rules for issuing stablecoins in the US, the number of stablecoins has seemed to explode. 

For instance, the value of shares in Circle, the company that made the USDC stablecoin, went up a lot. Tether announced a US-regulated stablecoin. In addition, American Express Travel also joined the blockchain world on September 16 with its own mobile app. Stablecoins like USDC are included alongside credit and debit cards, making the system flexible for different payment types.

Coinbase Institutional says that the stablecoin market cap could reach $1.2 trillion by the end of 2028. McKinsey says that it will be more than $400 billion by the end of 2025 and reach around $2 trillion by 2028. Meanwhile, on-chain data shows $289 billion worth of stablecoins are in circulation, a jump from $205 billion at the turn of the year.