Visa says stablecoins and card networks will coexist to power AI agent payments

Visa believes card networks and stablecoins won’t compete for dominance in AI-driven commerce, they’ll split the job. In a joint report published Wednesday with blockchain analytics firm Artemis, the payments giant argued that stablecoins are best suited to handle the flood of small, machine-to-machine payments AI agents will generate, while cards remain the default for larger consumer purchases.

AI Economy creates two powerful payment markets

According to the report, Agentic Payments from the Ground Up, autonomous AI agents are expected to evolve beyond simple assistants into software capable of independently initiating, negotiating, and completing financial transactions on behalf of individuals, businesses, and even other software systems.

Visa and Artemis identified two major sectors emerging within the AI economy.

The first is macro-commerce, where AI agents help consumers complete high-value activities such as booking flights, managing subscriptions, purchasing goods, and coordinating travel.

These transactions naturally fit within today’s established card payment ecosystem.

The second is micro-commerce, which involves thousands—or even millions—of tiny payments between software applications.

Examples include API calls, cloud computing services, AI model usage, data requests, and distributed computing resources. These payments often involve fractions of a dollar, making traditional payment rails inefficient.

AI economy makes stablecoins ideal for machine payments

The report argues that the AI economy will require payment systems capable of processing enormous volumes of low-cost transactions without excessive fees.

Visa explained that fixed processing costs associated with conventional payment networks make very small transactions economically impractical.

By contrast, modern blockchain networks can settle payments for only fractions of a cent, making stablecoins an attractive solution for machine-native micropayments.

Rather than replacing cards, Visa believes stablecoins will fill a gap that existing infrastructure was never designed to handle.

“In all likelihood, this won’t come down to a choice between cards and stablecoins. Both will have a place,” Visa said in the report.

The company added that card networks remain exceptionally well suited for consumer purchases through existing merchant ecosystems, while stablecoins provide greater efficiency for software-driven payment flows within the growing AI economy.

AI economy will blend cards and stablecoins

One of the report’s central conclusions is that the future AI economy will combine both payment methods within a single transaction workflow.

An AI travel assistant, for example, could book airline tickets using a customer’s Visa card while simultaneously paying dozens of software providers, cloud services, identity verification platforms, mapping APIs, and computing resources through stablecoin settlements.

This hybrid approach would allow consumers to enjoy familiar payment experiences while enabling autonomous software agents to exchange value almost instantly behind the scenes.

Artemis researchers noted that blockchain infrastructure is increasingly capable of supporting this vision thanks to faster settlement speeds, lower transaction costs, and greater interoperability across digital asset ecosystems.

Industry leaders see AI economy accelerating

Visa has been steadily expanding its blockchain initiatives over the past several years, including stablecoin settlement pilots and digital asset infrastructure partnerships.

The latest report reinforces the company’s view that blockchain technology will become a foundational layer of future commerce rather than a replacement for existing financial systems.

The report also aligns with broader industry trends. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly described AI agents as the next major evolution of computing, while Sam Altman has argued that increasingly capable AI systems will fundamentally reshape productivity and digital services.

Their comments underscore why payment infrastructure must evolve alongside intelligent software capable of economic activity.

As AI systems become more autonomous, the AI economy will likely generate billions of machine-generated transactions every day, creating enormous demand for payment rails designed specifically for software.

AI economy signals a new era of digital commerce

Visa’s latest research suggests the AI economy will not replace today’s financial infrastructure—it will expand it.

Instead of choosing between blockchain and traditional finance, the payments giant envisions an ecosystem where stablecoins and card networks work together to support every layer of digital commerce.

Consumer purchases, enterprise transactions, cloud computing, AI services, and software marketplaces could all operate seamlessly under one integrated payment architecture.

If Visa’s vision materializes, the AI economy may become one of the strongest drivers of financial innovation this decade, accelerating the adoption of stablecoins while reinforcing the importance of trusted global payment networks.