Coinbase has introduced Agentic Wallets, a new wallet infrastructure designed to give AI agents the ability to hold, spend, earn, and trade crypto without human approval at every step. The announcement came through Coinbase’s Developer Platform blog and reflects a shift toward software systems that execute financial actions rather than only recommend them.
AI agents already handle tasks such as answering questions and summarizing data. Financial execution remains limited. Agents identify opportunities or services but cannot complete payments or trades independently. Coinbase positions the new wallet infrastructure as a solution to this gap.
“The next generation of agents won’t just advise – they’ll act.”
The next unlock for AI agents just launched.@CoinbaseDev released agentic wallets, the first wallet infrastructure designed for AI agents.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 11, 2026
Now agents can spend, earn, and trade autonomously and securely. https://t.co/NEK7QrB6E8
Built for autonomous financial operations
Agentic Wallets function as purpose-built infrastructure for AI systems rather than embedded wallets adapted from consumer tools. Coinbase said the product equips agents with financial capabilities within minutes through developer tools and prebuilt functions.
The wallet framework includes a library of operational features such as Authenticate, Fund, Send, Trade, and Earn. Developers do not need to build complex blockchain transaction logic from scratch. The system integrates into Coinbase’s Developer Platform and supports usage monitoring and security controls through its CDP Portal.
At the center sits the x402 payments protocol, a machine-to-machine transaction standard that has processed more than 100 million transactions, as HodlFM reported earlier. The protocol supports programmatic payments, API access, and automated resource acquisition without human interaction.
Coinbase also enables gasless trading on Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network. Agents maintain continuous operations without disruption caused by missing network fees.
Security design and operational guardrails
The company structured the wallets around programmable limits and enterprise-grade security. Developers can set session spending caps and transaction limits. Private keys remain within Coinbase infrastructure rather than inside agent prompts or language models.
Built-in compliance tools screen transactions for risk and block suspicious activity. The security model relies on the same infrastructure used across Coinbase accounts.
Erik Reppel, head of engineering for Coinbase Developer Platform, described the architecture as a response to existing vulnerabilities in agent-based wallets.
“Today, most agents with wallets just have a private key sitting on disk somewhere, and you’re already seeing those wallets get exploited, or people lose access when agents make mistakes,” he said.
He added that the keys remain isolated from the AI environment.
“The keys are stored within Coinbase’s trusted execution environments,” he said.
Authentication occurs through session credentials while the agent interacts only with the wallet address. The private key never enters prompts or agent logic.
“Only you can access the wallet after having authenticated or having your agent authenticate,” Reppel added. “The only thing that’s shown to the wallet is the address.”
Expansion of autonomous applications
Coinbase links the wallet infrastructure to emerging agent-based ecosystems across decentralized finance, machine economies, and digital commerce.
Agents can monitor DeFi yields, rebalance positions, and execute trades around the clock once permission settings exist. They can also pay for compute resources, APIs, storage, and data services through crypto payment rails.
The company frames this as groundwork for machine-driven economies where software purchases services, monetizes outputs, and transfers value without manual approvals.
Projects in the broader ecosystem already test agent autonomy. Developers have launched AI-only platforms and services that rely on automated transactions. The rise of self-hosted agent frameworks has increased demand for secure financial execution tools.
Activity across crypto and AI ecosystems
Coinbase’s announcement arrived as other developers released updates tied to AI-driven payments. Lightning Labs introduced tools that support automatic payments on the Bitcoin Lightning Network and remote signing for added security controls.
Ethereum activity also surged after the launch of ERC-8004, a new standard that provides portable identities and trust layers for agents. More than 13,000 AI agents registered on-chain in a single day after the release.
Market momentum appeared in token performance. Several AI-focused tokens posted weekly gains, including Kite, tokenbot, Siren, and Unibase, based on CoinMarketCap data.
Limits and early-stage realities
Despite the momentum, the product targets developers rather than retail users. Reppel said the command-line interface and configuration process remain technical.
“It’s a little technical right now,” he said.
He also acknowledged that full autonomy introduces governance and compliance challenges. The system attempts to mitigate risk through guardrails and monitoring rather than unrestricted control.
The launch reflects a broader shift in infrastructure priorities. Crypto payment rails allow instant programmatic transfers, which traditional banking systems do not support for autonomous software.
“Your agent is going to need a way to pay for things, and your credit card is probably not the best way to do it,” Reppel said. “Having a dedicated wallet with stablecoins makes it easier to keep it safe and lowers the friction of sending money.”
Coinbase presents Agentic Wallets as foundational infrastructure for a new phase of AI development. The focus rests on execution, not assistance. The transition centers on agents that act within defined financial permissions rather than systems that wait for human approval at every step.
Gunel Ismayilova
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