Ripple targets AI agents with XRP as USDC dominates payments

Ripple has introduced tools that let AI agents use XRP and RLUSD for payments at a time when USDC continues to dominate activity on the fast-growing x402 machine-payment network.

According to Ripple, the company this week released the XRPL AI Starter Kit, a developer toolkit designed to help software agents send, receive, and manage payments on the XRP Ledger with limited human involvement.

The launch adds support for x402 payments using XRP and Ripple USD (RLUSD), placing Ripple into a market where stablecoin-based transactions currently account for most activity.

The initial release includes access to the XRPL Docs MCP Server, which allows AI applications such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and custom agent frameworks to retrieve XRP Ledger documentation when needed. Ripple also introduced wallet and payment tools for Claude that support wallet creation, balance checks, transaction tracking, and payments.

Ripple said AI agents are already being used to pay for computing resources, settle invoices, and complete transactions. The company argued that existing payment systems were built around human approvals and reconciliation processes, making them less suitable for autonomous software that needs transactions to settle automatically.

USDC currently leads x402 payment activity

Data cited by Ripple highlights the challenge facing XRP and RLUSD as they enter the emerging machine-payment sector.

The x402 protocol was originally developed by Coinbase and is now maintained by the Linux Foundation’s x402 Foundation. Using the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” response code, the system allows software agents to make blockchain payments directly within standard web requests. An agent can request a paid service, receive a payment request, submit an on-chain transaction, and then continue the request using proof of payment.

According to a Chainalysis report published in early June, x402 activity on Base increased from almost zero in mid-2025 to more than 100 million cumulative transactions during the first quarter of 2026. Chainalysis noted that part of the sharp increase recorded in late 2025 was linked to PING, a pay-to-mint meme coin project that generated speculative transaction activity.

Additional figures from Web3 Trackers show more than 120 million cumulative x402 transactions and over $41 million in settled USDC volume. Base accounts for roughly 70 million transactions and $21.5 million in volume, while Solana has processed about 45 million transactions worth $16.4 million. The dashboard also reports an average payment size of approximately five cents.

Against that backdrop, Ripple is promoting the XRP Ledger’s three-to-five-second settlement times, predictable transaction costs, native escrow features, multisignature support, and built-in decentralized exchange as advantages for automated payments.

Ripple expands payment infrastructure beyond AI tools

Alongside the AI-focused rollout, Ripple has continued adding payment infrastructure tied to RLUSD and the XRP Ledger.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Mastercard recently launched an AI payments network backed by more than 30 companies, including Ripple, Coinbase, and the Solana Foundation. 

Mastercard also added RLUSD to its stablecoin settlement infrastructure, which supports settlements across networks including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Canton, Tempo, and the XRP Ledger.

Elsewhere, Ripple has integrated Bitso’s Mexican peso-backed stablecoin MXNB into its enterprise payments network. According to Ripple, MXNB and RLUSD will support liquidity and settlement for regulated transactions between the United States and Mexico using blockchain-based payment rails.

Questions remain about adoption. Ripple did not disclose any production-scale deployments, transaction volumes, or named customers using XRP or RLUSD for AI-agent payments.

At the same time, academic researchers have warned that x402 introduces additional risks around payment authorization, proof validation, and synchronization between web services and blockchain transactions, creating technical hurdles that developers must address as machine-to-machine payments expand.