Cryptocurrency payments firm MoonPay has introduced a groundbreaking non-custodial financial infrastructure layer designed specifically for artificial intelligence agents, enabling them to access wallets, manage funds, and execute transactions autonomously. The new service, called MoonPay Agents, was announced on Tuesday and represents a significant convergence of AI and decentralized finance.
The service requires a user to verify and fund their AI agent's wallet through MoonPay's platform, completing a one-time KYC process and connecting a payment method. Once set up, the AI agent can independently perform actions such as trading, swapping, and moving money within user-defined permissions. "AI agents can reason, but they cannot act economically without capital infrastructure," said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and Founder of MoonPay. "MoonPay is the bridge between AI and money. The fastest way to move money is crypto, and we've built the infrastructure to let agents do exactly that: non-custodial, permissionless, and ready to use in minutes."
The technical architecture creates a secure gateway between AI operational logic and blockchain networks, utilizing APIs and smart contract interactions. Key components include agent wallet authentication, transaction signing delegation, and a policy engine where users define spending limits and authorized protocols. The system maintains a non-custodial model, meaning MoonPay does not hold users' private keys or have direct control over funds.
Industry analysts view this development as pivotal. "This isn't just about automation; it's about enabling a new class of economic actors," noted Dr. Anya Sharma, a fintech researcher. The infrastructure addresses a critical bottleneck where AI agents have been constrained from participating in the economy without direct access to financial resources.
Potential applications span multiple sectors: in DeFi, autonomous trading bots can rebalance portfolios; in gaming, NPCs could own and trade assets; in the creator economy, AI-generated content could manage micropayments; and in DAOs, AI delegates could manage treasury allocations. The system incorporates security features like transparent audit trails, user-centric controls, and transaction simulation to prevent failed trades and identify malicious contracts.
