At CoinDesk's Consensus Miami conference on May 10, 2026, senior figures from PayPal and Google Cloud argued that AI agents are structurally locked out of traditional banking, making crypto rails essential for the next wave of internet commerce. Richard Widmann, global head of Web3 strategy at Google Cloud, noted that 'an agent cannot get a bank account' due to technological and regulatory barriers, while crypto provides a 'fantastic machine readable interface for payments.' Google has launched the Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), an open standard donated to the FIDO Foundation with over 120 partners including PayPal. May Zabaneh, PayPal's SVP and GM of crypto, emphasized that PYUSD stablecoin is a natural programmable layer for payments, especially as commerce moves toward globalization and AI-native experiences. A PayPal survey found 95% of merchants see AI agent traffic but only 20% have machine-readable catalogs, highlighting the need for merchants to prepare. On liability, Zabaneh stated the industry must determine responsibility for agent mistakes, while Widmann advocated multi-party custody where agents hold only partial key shards, preventing unilateral fund movement. Both executives see crypto infrastructure as key to enabling agentic commerce.

Key facts

• AI agents can't get bank accounts, making crypto rails the natural payment layer.
• Google's AP2 protocol has 120+ partners including PayPal, donated to FIDO Foundation.
• PayPal survey: 95% of merchants see AI agent traffic, but only 20% have machine-readable catalogs.
• Multi-party custody recommended to prevent agents from unilaterally moving funds.
• Liability for agent mistakes remains an open industry question.