The Reality of AI Agentic Payments in 2026

BeInCrypto2026/10/06 17:45

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There is nothing more trending in the tech, finance, and media world than AI agents. In the financial space, agentic payments are being discussed as the next biggest disruption something similar in scale to contactless payments. But whats the reality behind the headline numbers? BeInCryptos latest research, The State of AI Agent Payments 2026, looks into this question.Between late July and August 2026, we tracked the payments data recorded on x402, one of the most popular open-source payment protocols used by AI agents. BeInCrypto found that 6.4 million recorded payments were worth less than $120,000.More than 90% of agentic payments were worth less than a penny. The State of AI Agent Payments 2026. Source: BeInCrypto Research What are AI Agents Buying With Cents? A separate review of the x402 catalogue helps explain the purchases. Its most-used paid resource was an AI-generated cryptocurrency safety assessment, costing two cents per request. Web searches came next. Agents were buying information needed to complete a task, one request at a time. Think of an AI assistant helping you plan a holiday. It could pay a small fee to check available flights, then pay to search the web for information about your destination. Flight availability searches and paid web searches both appeared in our catalogue review. These purchases give the assistant information it needs to answer your question. What AI Agents are Buying. Source: BeInCrypto Research Solana carried 99.2% of transactions in the sample. Activity was heavily concentrated: an eight-day burst on Solana accounted for 94.5% of all recorded payments. That concentration matters. Millions of transfers can come from a small group of active wallets, making transaction counts a poor measure of how many businesses are using the technology. How Ready Are Agents to Handle More? Micropayments scored 60.7 out of 100, the highest result in our provisional readiness assessment. Trading and investment agents scored 39.1, while institutional workflows scored 12. These scores reflect the available evidence. They are not success rates. Six of twelve institutional workflows reviewed could initiate or settle payments within permissions set by people. Evidence of their actual use remained limited. The amount entrusted to software also changes the risk. If an agent is responsible for $10, you can worry less about its spending than if it is responsible for $1,000, said Will Papper, Director of Product for Agent Payments, Cloudflare Download the full report to explore the evidence and what businesses should assess before giving an agent spending authority. Read the article at BeInCrypto

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01:09 PM EDT, 10/06/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Broad Market Indicators Broad-market exchange-traded fund IWM fell and IVV edged higher. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) added 0.7%. US equity indexes rose as big-tech names helped the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit fresh all-time highs intraday amid declining government bond yields and crude oil. Energy IShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) were each up about 0.8%. Technology The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained 0.8%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) added 0.7%, and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was 0.8% higher. The State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) climbed 1.4%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) rose 0.6%. Financial The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) added 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) advanced 0.5%, and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), declined 0.4%. Commodities Crude oil rose 0.2%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) added 0.3%. Natural gas gained 1.3%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 1.2%. Gold on Comex gained 0.7%, and the State Street SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was up 0.4%. Silver rose 0.5%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) gained 0.3%. Consumer The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was 1% higher, and the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) rose 1.1%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) added 1.1%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was up 1%, and the State Street SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) edged up 0.3%. Healthcare The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) slipped 0.1%, while iShares US Healthcare (IYH) shed 0.2%, and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) fell 0.4%. IShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) declined 2.1%. Industrial The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) added 1.2%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) rose 1.1%, and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) gained 1.1%. Cryptocurrency In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) shed

MT newswire•2026/10/06 17:09

BUZZ - Jefferies raises target price, Pershing Square shares surge

October 6th - Alternative asset management company Pershing Square (PS.N) shares rose 7.49% to $58.98. Jefferies raised its target price from $38 to $58 and maintained a "Hold" rating, stating that performance-based fees are expected to continue rising next year. According to data compiled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), 9 out of 10 brokers give the stock a "Buy" or higher rating, and one gives a "Hold" rating; the median target price is $42. The current price-to-earnings ratio is 64.03 times expected earnings per share for the next 12 months, far above the industry median of 10.97 times. As of the previous trading day's close, PS has risen 145.4% since its IPO in April.

路透社•2026/10/06 16:41