<div id="readability-page-1"><div>Stablecoins could become the default medium of exchange in a rapidly emerging economy where autonomous AI agents transact with one another, according to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who said that traditional payments are too slow, expensive and cumbersome for the world being built.Circle is a fintech firm and the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest dollar-backed stablecoin behind Tether.Stablecoins, unlike other forms of cryptocurrencies, maintain a consistent price when pegged to another asset such as the US dollar.Speaking during the Where Are We on Stablecoins discussion at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Allaire argued that the combination of mature blockchain networks, smart contract platforms and increasingly autonomous AI systems is pushing finance toward “machine-to-machine” payments, and that stablecoins are uniquely suited to power it.“Stablecoins are becoming the backbone of payments for AI agents,” Allaire said.Read more: Crypto live prices“We now have very mature blockchain networks that can execute code via smart contracts that are publicly verifiable. This is crucial when verifying transactions between AI agents,” Allaire said.“Taking out a visa card or firing up a bank wire is absurd. We need a medium of exchange that can scale to fractions of a cent, with speed and interoperability across applications and devices.”The conversation coincides with a boom in companies working out how they can leverage autonomous AI agents, software tools that can make decisions, place trades, process data, and even purchase goods or services without human approval.More than 700 AI agent startups launched on Stripe last year alone, a sign that the infrastructure layer for autonomous commerce is accelerating.Read more: What the Bank of England's stablecoin cap means for UK crypto usersUnlike large language models such as ChatGPT, these agents can be configured to operate independently, including making payments. That raises an immediate bottleneck, as traditional financial rails weren’t designed for machines that transact 24/7, in tiny increments, and across borders.AI agents don’t sleep. They trade around the clock, parsing charts, on-chain data, liquidity conditions and market sentiment in real time. Smart contracts such as those employed on the ethereum (ETH-USD) network handle execution, while blockchain verifies each transaction.Payment firms are already adapting. Stripe has rolled out expanded tools and developer support to help businesses integrate stablecoins and emerging AI-driven commerce, enabling new programmable payment flows.Stripe CEO Patrick Collison has described stablecoins as &#34;room-temperature superconductors for financial services&#34;, citing their ability to move value quickly, cheaply, and with programmability.<h2 id="stablecoins-surge-to-record-market-cap">Stablecoins surge to record market cap</h2>The outlook is playing out against a backdrop of explosive stablecoin growth. The total market cap of stablecoins recently hit a new all-time high of more than $310bn, surpassing its previous peak set in December. Most are pegged to the US dollar, making them an increasingly important distribution channel for USD.Read more: What’s making pension funds bet big on bitcoin?If US treasury projections hold, stablecoins could reach a total supply of around $2tn by 2028, positioning issuers to become among the largest non‑sovereign buyers of US treasury bills, a potential shift with major implications for global dollar liquidity.According to the treasury’s Q1 2025 report, “US dollar‑pegged stablecoins are on track to reach an aggregate market capitalisation of approximately $2 trillion by 2028.”Major issuers already hold significant Treasury bill positions, and Morgan Stanley projects that the market could even exceed $2tn, “driven by use cases far beyond crypto trading, from remittances and e‑commerce to global B2B settlement.”As dollars migrate on-chain, tokenised equities, bonds, and other assets could follow, enabling programmatic and global settlement for instruments that currently clear in slow, siloed systems.The shift is not without regulatory friction. In the US, the proposed Clarity Act could ban yield on stablecoins, a move that has drawn scrutiny from the industry.“Stablecoin yield should not derail long-overdue US crypto regulation, but banning it outright would be a policy error,” said Bitpace CEO Anil Oncu. “With sensible safeguards and clear rules, lawmakers can protect consumers without freezing responsible innovation.”Regulators in the UK and Europe are exploring separate frameworks, with the Bank of England signalling that stablecoins used widely for payments should be issued in a regulated, safe manner. For now, there are no stablecoins at that scale in Britain.Read more:<ul><li>Stablecoins: A deep dive into what they are and the risks</li><li>What price will bitcoin be by Christmas?</li><li>Why the bitcoin trade 'is too large to ignore'</li></ul>Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.</div></div>

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Stablecoins are poised to become the primary medium of exchange in an economy driven by autonomous AI agents, according to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire. He emphasized that traditional payment methods are inadequate for the fast-paced, machine-driven transactions required. With the total market cap of stablecoins surpassing $310 billion, their growth is significant, and projections suggest they could reach $2 trillion by 2028. This shift could transform financial services, enabling efficient, programmable payments while raising regulatory concerns in the US and Europe.

Why stablecoins could power the AI agent economy