AI Agent Payments Reveal Wide Gap Between Micropayments and Portfolio Control

An AI aide handed $10 to collect data for an investment choice might use it to pay for research along the way. Allowing it to execute the eventual trade is a different matter entirely.

“Giving an agent permission to spend 40 cents is very different from allowing it to manage your portfolio,” says Zoomex.

The accountability issue is central to the State of AI Agent Payments 2026 by BeInCrypto. From July 23 to August 26, the study logged 6.4 million x402 payments on Base and Solana.

Their combined value totalled $119,947.

The typical payment was around 1.9 cents. Over 90% of transactions were valued at less than a penny.

What Do AI Agents Actually Purchase Today?

An analysis of the x402 catalogue uncovered what these small buys funded. The most frequently sought resources included web searches and airline reward seat availability checks.

Zoomex anticipates that the number of transactions will rise more quickly than the average payment amount over the coming year. Acquiring data offers a practical role for agents with minimal funds at risk per action.

Venturing into investment decisions calls for defining the software's level of autonomy.

Of the 19 products and workflows examined, 14 were able to operate under permissions set in advance. Consequently, some actions could happen without needing approval for each one.

The extent of this authority differed from product to product.

Zoomex's own AI link offers a distinct delegation tier. Its MCP service allows AI applications to connect with exchange tools, enabling assistants like Claude or Cursor to analyse markets and draft orders.

The user verifies each order prior to its submission.

“Our MCP enables AI assistants to retrieve market information, analyse positions and prepare trading instructions, while still keeping the user in control through confirmation before execution,” Fernando Lillo Aranda told the research team.

Separately, Zoomex recorded a capacity of 60,000 order requests per second for approved institutional account configurations.

This number represents permissible software traffic. It does not tally real trades or decisions taken by AI.

The report's readiness evaluation gave micropayments a score of 60.7 out of 100. Trading and investment agents received 39.1.

“Over the next twelve months, we expect more adoption in clearly defined tasks: rebalancing within agreed limits, managing collateral or executing an order under specific conditions. Fully autonomous investment decisions will take longer,” says Zoomex.

The company's gauge for success places the account holder at the core:

“The key metric is not just how much money agents move. It is how much responsibility people are willing to delegate to them.”

Disclosure: Zoomex sponsored the report. BeInCrypto Research retained complete editorial control.