Cloudflare CEO Announces NET Dollar Stablecoin for AI Agent Micropayments

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince announced the launch of NET Dollar, a U. S. dollar-backed stablecoin designed for AI agent micropayments on ￰2￱ connectivity cloud company plans to deploy NET Dollar as the payment backbone for autonomous AI systems that book flights, order groceries, and manage calendars without human intervention. “For decades, the business model of the Internet ran on ad platforms and bank transfers,” Prince stated, adding that “The Internet’s next business model will be powered by pay-per-use, fractional payments, and microtransactions.” The stablecoin will leverage Cloudflare’s global network to process payments at internet speed, targeting fundamental limitations in current financial systems designed for human-initiated ￰3￱ introduces NET Dollar, a new U.

S. dollar-backed stablecoin that will enable instant, secure transactions for the agentic web. ￰0￱ — Cloudflare (@Cloudflare) September 25, 2025 AI Agents Drive New Payment Infrastructure Requirements NET Dollar emerges as AI agents increasingly require payment systems capable of handling millions of automated transactions without human ￰4￱ payment rails, such as wire transfers and credit cards, cannot accommodate the instant settlements and micropayments that autonomous systems ￰5￱ company’s stablecoin will allow global payments across different currencies and time zones, facilitate instant programmatic transactions for time-sensitive purchases, and provide compensation for content creators and API ￰6￱ AI agents could automatically purchase the cheapest available flight tickets or buy items the moment they go on sale, while business agents might pay suppliers immediately upon delivery ￰7￱ is simultaneously contributing to open standards, including the Agent Payments Protocol and x402 , which simplify payment processing across the internet infrastructure. @Cloudflare and @Coinbase launch x402 Foundation, enabling AI agents to make automated web payments without human intervention. #Coinbase #Cloudflare ￰1￱ — ￰8￱ (@cryptonews) September 24, 2025 The x402 protocol, developed with Coinbase, converts the HTTP “402 Payment Required” error code into a functional payment system, allowing machines to purchase data and services ￰9￱ Web Services is already exploring x402 integration for cloud computing payments, potentially transforming the $1.9 trillion cloud market expected by 2030.

x402 Playground /) September 25, 2025 Meanwhile, the regulatory momentum has allowed tech giants to embrace stablecoin integration, with Google adding stablecoin support to its new AI payment framework through partnerships with Coinbase and the Ethereum Foundation. Google’s James Tromans called stablecoins “probably one of the most important payment upgrades since the SWIFT network,” with a network effect that has triggered a growing consensus among tech giants regarding the role of programmable money in autonomous ￰10￱ the same interval, the broader stablecoin market has expanded from $4 billion in 2020 to over $280 billion today, with bots already accounting for 70% of stablecoin transfer volume , according to industry ￰11￱ fact, recent industry projections from Citigroup have shown that the stablecoin sector could reach over $2 trillion in market capitalization by ￰12￱ stablecoin issuers now rank 17th globally in ￰13￱ holdings, surpassing countries such as South Korea and Germany in their influence on government debt markets.

Additionally, Cloudflare is not the first to implement an AI-powered payment ￰14￱ co-founder Sean Neville recently launched Catena Labs with $18 million in funding to create the first fully regulated AI-native financial institution, positioning stablecoins as essential infrastructure for autonomous economic ￰15￱ stablecoins are growing and being adopted across various verticals, banking industry groups are pushing back against the growth, warning that regulatory gaps could trigger $6.6 trillion in deposit outflows from traditional banks. However, Coinbase research suggests that most stablecoin activity occurs internationally, does not pose a threat to banks, and could instead strengthen dollar dominance without materially impacting domestic banking deposits.