Chainalysis reports 138M+ agentic transactions on Base in Q3 2026

The majority of these micro-transactions are extremely small, with more than 87% costing less than 10 cents. Chainalysis head of research Eric Jardine notes that at these low values, traditional credit card fees often exceed the cost of the service itself, making blockchain a more efficient settlement method for AI-to-AI commerce. The speed of agent activity has also increased significantly; the median time between a wallet receiving its first deposit and making its first payment dropped from 73 days in late 2025 to just 18 minutes by Q3 2026.

The x402 protocol, launched by Coinbase in May 2025, has gained broader industry support, moving under the Linux Foundation in July with members including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Google. Repeat funding is also becoming standard, with around 90% of active wallets receiving another deposit within 30 days, suggesting a shift from one-off experiments to ongoing operational use. Jardine predicts the trend will continue to grow exponentially as more platforms accept agent payments.