Tempo’s Machine Payment Protocol now enables on-chain crypto payments and fiat payments through shared tokens, while Visa’s Card Specification SDK brings this protocol to card-based agent commerce.

Visa’s Tempo tool and Stripe-backed Tempo rolled out AI payment capabilities in March, allowing AI agents to execute and receive same-day payments.

In March, Visa’s crypto division joined Tempo to launch AI tools; the system lets AI agents perform same-day payments, while Tempo extends machine-to-machine money movement via MPP.

Industry warns that current card networks are built for low-frequency human purchases, creating adoption barriers for high-frequency machine payments.

The report envisions machine-native micropayments using stablecoins for scalability, with potential influence on AI-enabled microbusiness volumes.

Stablecoins are seen as a catalyst for machine-native micropayments, with projections of up to $262 billion in stablecoin volume by 2033 under a 33% adoption scenario.

Mid-2025 marked a capability threshold when AI agents could discover unfamiliar APIs, evaluate prices, and autonomously decide on payments, driving demand for new infrastructure.

After that threshold, existing infrastructure gaps emerged, limiting mainstream adoption of agentic payments despite the viability of autonomous AI-driven payments.

Coinbase’s x402 payment protocol has gained traction, processing substantial volume since May 2025, with 15 million in adjusted volume across 109 million adjusted transactions and a surge to 3.8 million transactions in a late-2025 month.

AI agents are stressing traditional card payments by demanding near-zero-fee, fast-settlement micropayments for autonomous transactions.

Some envision a single machine payments framework that supports both stablecoins and card transactions, enabling a hybrid workflow where cards handle proxy purchases and machine-native micropayments flow in tandem.