XRP Ledger crosses million-mark for autonomous AI payments

The XRP Ledger has processed more than one million transactions initiated by artificial intelligence agents, highlighting the rapid emergence of machine-controlled payments across blockchain networks.

The milestone was disclosed as developers expand systems that allow autonomous software to purchase data, computing capacity and other digital services without requiring a person to approve every payment. Ayo Akinyele, head of engineering at RippleX, expects activity to accelerate sharply, potentially reaching 10 million transactions soon and 100 million within the next two years.

Agentic transactions are payments executed by AI-powered software acting on instructions or objectives set by users. An agent may, for example, search for a service, compare prices, negotiate access, complete a payment and verify delivery as part of a single automated process.

The million-transaction figure primarily reflects activity handled through infrastructure developed by t54, a Ripple-backed company building payment and identity systems for autonomous agents. Its facilitator connects the XRP Ledger to x402, an open payments protocol designed to let websites and application programming interfaces charge software agents directly.

The protocol revives the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code, allowing a digital service to demand payment before fulfilling a request. An AI agent can receive the demand, select an accepted asset, authorise the transfer and continue its task after settlement. This removes the need for subscriptions, credit-card accounts or manual checkout screens.

Agents using the XRP Ledger can make payments with XRP or Ripple USD, the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple. Developers are testing the technology for purchases such as artificial intelligence inference, database queries, cloud processing, premium online content and access to specialised software tools.

Ripple strengthened its push into the sector in June by releasing the XRPL AI Starter Kit. The package provides tutorials and developer tools for creating wallets, checking balances and initiating payments through AI assistants. It includes support for x402 transactions and integration with widely used AI development environments.

The company is positioning the ledger as infrastructure for low-value, high-frequency transactions. Payments on the network typically settle within seconds, while charges are usually fractions of a cent. Those features matter for machine commerce because an agent may make hundreds or thousands of small purchases while completing a complex task.

Competition is intensifying. The x402 ecosystem has recorded more than 120 million transactions across over a dozen blockchain networks, with activity concentrated on Coinbase’s Base network. USDC, the dollar-linked stablecoin issued by Circle, dominates payments made through the protocol.

More than 100 million x402 transactions were completed on Base through the first quarter of 2026. However, some of that activity was linked to speculative token experiments rather than payments for productive services, demonstrating that transaction counts alone may not provide a reliable measure of commercial adoption.

The XRP Ledger milestone therefore offers an early indication of demand rather than proof that autonomous payments have reached mainstream use. The network’s one million agentic transactions represent a small share of its overall history, which spans more than three billion processed transactions since its launch in 2012.

Questions also remain over security and accountability. Autonomous agents require access to wallets or delegated spending permissions, creating risks if instructions are manipulated or credentials are compromised. Poorly designed agents could overspend, repeatedly purchase unnecessary services or transfer assets to malicious operators.

Developers are responding with transaction limits, approved-recipient lists, programmable permissions and human-review thresholds. Stablecoins may also be favoured over volatile digital assets for routine machine payments because their values are easier to calculate and record.

RippleX has expanded its security work alongside the payments initiative. It has introduced AI-assisted testing and a dedicated red team to identify vulnerabilities in ledger software before upgrades enter production. The programme has already detected multiple coding issues, strengthening efforts to prepare the network for larger volumes and more sophisticated automated applications.

The next phase is expected to move beyond digital infrastructure. t54 is working on systems that could allow agents to purchase physical goods and services, provided merchants can confirm inventory, delivery terms and payment conditions through machine-readable interfaces.

Arabian Post – Crypto News Network