With the recent development of artificial intelligence (AI) agents, structural changes in the global payment and settlement market are beginning. Beyond simply changing payment methods, the machine-to-machine (M2M) payment structure, in which AI agents perform payments on their own, is quickly being established as a payment infrastructure. According to the IT and virtual asset industries on the 13th, competition for global standards to lead the AI agent-based payment ecosystem is intensifying.
The x402 Foundation, officially launched under the Linux Foundation on the 2nd, involves major tech and payment operators such as Google, Microsoft, AWS, Visa, and Mastercard. In Korea, Kakao Pay joined as the only founding member, contributing to AI-led global standards for agent commerce. A three-layer structure of authorization, transaction creation, and payment execution is described. The Yulchon Digital Asset Center, a law firm, published a report analyzing that this AI agent payment infrastructure consists of a three-layer framework with separation of authorization, transaction creation, and payment execution.
Advances in AI-driven agent payments enable ultra-fast, machine-to-machine transactions across the payment stack, with processes occurring in milliseconds without human intervention. As the system eliminates human intervention in authorization, transaction creation, and settlement, regulators face a gap in traditional rules designed for human-led instructions. The x402 Foundation and AP2 protocols illustrate a three-layer model that requires fresh, function-oriented regulation to assign accountability when things go wrong. Experts call for non-repudiable log data and a clear allocation of duties among service providers, platforms, and payment rails so disputes can be resolved. Short-term steps include robust measurement and record-keeping, while long-term efforts address foreign exchange, sanctions, and cross-border coordination to support a secure AI agent payments ecosystem.
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