Kite AI Secures Funding from Coinbase Ventures to Transform AI Payment Infrastructure

Revolutionizing Payments for Autonomous AI Agents

Kite AI, a trailblazing company dedicated to developing advanced payment infrastructure for autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents, announced on October 27th that it has secured strategic investment from Coinbase Ventures. This new funding complements Kite AI's recent $33 million Series A round led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst.

Chi Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Kite AI, underscored the urgency for modern financial systems to evolve, stating, “Today’s financial infrastructure collapses under the demands of AI. Our mission is to create the foundational economic framework that enables AI agents to autonomously interact and execute payments without human intervention.” His remarks highlight the company's commitment to solving critical limitations in traditional payment models as AI technology becomes increasingly integrated into economic ecosystems worldwide.

Partnership with Coinbase’s x402 Standard and Blockchain Integration

The investment by Coinbase Ventures is strategically aligned with Kite AI’s incorporation of the x402 Agent Payment Standard, Coinbase's proprietary protocol for autonomous AI monetary transactions. As one of the few Layer 1 (L1) blockchains to fully implement x402-compatible payment primitives, Kite AI now operates as a premier execution and payment layer for this groundbreaking standard.

The x402 protocol enables standardized “intent” commands that allow AI agents to autonomously and seamlessly execute payments, marking a significant advancement in fostering the “agentic economy.” This economic paradigm envisions a world where AI agents actively transact, negotiate, and contribute to various sectors without human oversight.

Key to Kite AI’s system is its L1 blockchain, designed to optimize the functionality and governance of autonomous AI transactions. Through features like its “Agent Passport,” AI entities are assigned cryptographically verified identities, providing secure, on-chain validation for each interaction. In addition, its programmable expenditure limits and sophisticated governance mechanisms empower agents to independently manage their economic activities while adhering to predefined accountability measures.

The blockchain is engineered for efficiency, integrating stablecoins and leveraging high-throughput technology capable of managing substantial volumes of micro-transactions. With sub-second finality and negligible transaction fees, Kite AI addresses critical scalability requirements for AI agent commerce, providing cost-effective solutions to meet the demands of next-generation financial systems.

Building the Future of "Agentic Commerce"

With this funding, Kite AI is accelerating the development of its vision for “Agentic Commerce”—a transformative concept where autonomous AI agents evolve as digital market participants and economic drivers. To establish this futuristic ecosystem, Kite AI is building new infrastructure and partnering with major platforms such as PayPal and Shopify. These integrations aim to empower AI agents to intuitively discover services, interact with offerings, and execute transactions on behalf of users—all in a frictionless and efficient manner.

CEO Chi Zhang emphasized the importance of industry recognition in driving this technological shift, noting, “This investment from Coinbase Ventures underscores the potential of autonomous agents to redefine the future of AI and highlights the urgent need for AI-native systems to support this progression.”

Through its pioneering efforts to create scalable payment solutions tailored to the demands of autonomous AI, Kite AI is rapidly emerging as a leader in the agentic economy. Supported by partnerships with influential players in the fintech and e-commerce landscapes, Kite AI is poised to unlock unprecedented possibilities in AI-agent-enabled financial automation, opening doors to new opportunities in economic innovation and interaction.