Wednesday, 29 July 2026 10:20 AM
Company Update
BRADFORD, GB / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2026 / XDC Network has launched XDC AI, a marketplace that lets AI agents discover, purchase, and pay for digital services on their own using USDC. The company presented the platform at an event in New York City, where co-founder Atul Khekade walked an audience that included banks, technology firms, and venture capital investors through a live demonstration.
A fast-growing but still-maturing category
Agentic payments transactions initiated and settled by AI agents without a human confirming each step have moved from concept to early infrastructure over the past year. Coinbase's x402 protocol, an open standard that lets software pay for API calls and services using the web's HTTP 402 status code, has processed more than 100 million transactions since launching in 2025, though on-chain data trackers have noted that daily transaction volume remains modest and a portion of activity reflects testing rather than commercial use.
The Linux Foundation established a dedicated x402 Foundation in April 2026, and McKinsey has estimated agentic commerce could influence trillions of dollars in global transactions by 2030 as adoption builds.
That backdrop is part of why the industry has moved cautiously on giving AI agents direct access to funds. A compromised agent with spending authority creates a different kind of risk than one that only handles data. XDC AI is XDC Network's attempt to address that risk while still launching a functioning payments marketplace.
How the platform works
XDC AI runs on x402. Software often needs to request data or services from other programs through an API, and until now, completing payment for that request has typically required a human to authorize it. x402 is designed to let an agent identify the API it needs, pay for it, and receive the result in a single automated step, without a credit card, seed phrase, or subscription. An agent can be set up with an email address, funded with a wallet, and made operational within minutes.
The wallet includes several built-in controls to manage the risk of giving agents direct spending access:
Each agent operates under a spending cap it cannot exceed.
Agents use a temporary access key rather than a person's actual login credentials, so access can be revoked if an agent is compromised.
Funds can only be sent to destinations a user has pre-approved, preventing agents from initiating transfers to new recipients.
These controls are active by default from the first payment.
XDC Network covers network fees, so agents only need to hold a USDC balance to operate.
"An agent is more than a piece of software. It is the first user of the internet that can act without waiting for a person to click buy," said co-founder Atul Khekade, adding that the company built the wallet so agents can pay for services per call without a human approving each transaction.
Looking ahead
XDC Network plans to expand the marketplace beyond payments before the end of the year, adding research tools, legal document drafting, travel booking, and licensed portfolio management services. The launch comes as the wider AI industry faces increased scrutiny over how autonomous systems are supervised, particularly as models take on longer, more independent tasks - underscoring why vendors entering the agentic payments space are being pressed to show they've built the infrastructure to let it do so safely.
About XDC Network
XDC Network is an open-source, EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain built for payments, trade finance, and real-world assets. It is ISO 20022-compliant to support interoperability with global financial messaging and payment systems.
Contact
Company Name: XDC Network
Contact Person: Rachna Baruah
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://xdc.org/
SOURCE: XDC Network