Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire highlighted that 99.3% of payments between AI agents using the x402 protocol settled in USDC during Q2, with USDC circulation reaching $73.3 billion and transaction volume growing 151% year-over-year. The x402 protocol enables autonomous agents to make instant payments for digital services without human approval, positioning USDC as a stable, fast settlement asset. Circle's Agent Stack supports over 900 paid services and will expand with the upcoming Arc mainnet launch on September 16, which includes programmable finance tools. Besides AI payments, Circle also targets growth in cross-border transfers, capital markets, and retail commerce, leveraging partnerships and testing new payment solutions globally.
