PayPal and Google Cloud discuss the development of crypto payments

Executives from PayPal and Google Cloud stated that open payment protocols, machine-readable merchant directories, and multi-party encrypted custody are key to expanding agent-based commerce. AI agents cannot use traditional bank accounts, making crypto payments a natural choice. Google has launched the Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), partnering with 120 collaborators (including PayPal) and has donated it to the FIDO Foundation. A PayPal survey shows that 95% of merchants have experienced AI agent traffic, but only 20% possess machine-readable directories.