Mastercard launches Agent Pay for Machines, a payment protocol built for AI agents - Cryptopolitan

Crypto Insight Summary: * Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines, a protocol that enables AI agents to send and receive payments, including sub-cent microtransactions, across its global network. * Over 30 partners including Stripe, Coinbase, and Cloudflare are building on the protocol, which stores agent permissions on Polygon, Solana, and Base blockchains. * The company views the product as a five-year bet on machine-to-machine commerce rather than a near-term revenue driver. **Global card payments giant, Mastercard, has on Tuesday unveiled the Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M) protocol that allows AI agents to send and settle payments, including microtransactions costing less than a cent, across the card network’s global infrastructure.** Crypto Insight Analysis: Direction: Bullish MATIC / Bullish SOL / Bullish COIN Impact: Minor Impact Horizon: Mid-term (1-8 weeks) Reasoning: Partnerships with Coinbase and blockchain integrations with Polygon and Solana provide incremental utility and adoption.