AgentWallet ·

USDC for Agents — Coinbase CDP wallets on Base

Every AgentWallet agent gets a Coinbase CDP-managed USDC wallet on Base. Native x402 over EIP-3009, gas sponsored, per-agent caps, reconciled into the same trace ledger as your fiat and card spend.

  • Coinbase CDP managed wallets — keys never leave Coinbase TEEs.
  • USDC on Base mainnet, Base Sepolia for sandbox.
  • x402 over EIP-3009 — one-shot signed transfers, no two-step approve+transferFrom.
  • Gas sponsored by AgentWallet — agents never need ETH.
  • Per-agent caps and per-counterparty allowlists enforced in the policy gate.
  • Same trace ID across fiat, card and USDC settlements — one ledger row.

Frequently asked questions

How do I give my AI agent USDC?
Call POST /agents on AgentWallet — every agent is provisioned with a Coinbase CDP-managed USDC wallet on Base in the same 412 ms call. Fund it from the parent Company treasury or accept inbound USDC from any Base address.
Why USDC on Base instead of Ethereum mainnet or Solana?
Base gives sub-second finality, single-digit-cent gas (sponsored by AgentWallet for our agents), Coinbase CDP key custody and native EIP-3009 transferWithAuthorization for x402. Ethereum mainnet costs are unworkable for $0.01–$10 agent payments; Solana doesn't have the EIP-3009 / x402 ecosystem.
Who holds the agent's USDC keys?
Coinbase CDP holds the keys inside Trusted Execution Environments — the agent never sees the raw key, AgentWallet never sees the raw key, and Coinbase has a public attestation that keys never leave the TEE. Signing happens through CDP's signer API gated by our policy engine.
Does the agent need ETH for gas?
No. Gas on Base is sponsored by AgentWallet through a paymaster, so the agent only needs USDC. Gas costs are billed back to the parent Company in USD on the monthly statement.
Can the agent earn USDC, not just spend it?
Yes. Any AgentWallet agent can act as an x402 receiver — its endpoint returns HTTP 402, the counterparty signs an EIP-3009 authorization, the USDC settles into the agent's wallet on Base in ~2 seconds, and the receipt is stitched into the unified trace.
What's the difference between AgentWallet USDC and Circle Programmable Wallets?
Circle Programmable Wallets is a USDC-only smart wallet SDK — no fiat rails, no virtual card, no MCP, no AP2, no Principal control plane. AgentWallet uses the same on-chain primitives (USDC, EIP-3009) plus 17 fiat rails, virtual cards, MCP, AP2 and a full identity stack. See /vs/circle for a feature-by-feature comparison.