More than a third of new developers signing up for crypto wallet infrastructure provider Privy are building AI agents, according to Debbie Soon, the company's head of marketing. The figure, disclosed this week, underscores how the lines between crypto wallets and autonomous software are blurring — and fast.
AI agents flood Privy's pipeline
Soon said the statistic comes from internal sign-up data. Privy, which Stripe acquired in June 2025 for an undisclosed sum following its $1.1 billion Bridge deal, builds wallets that live inside other companies' apps. Last month it released a command-line tool specifically for AI agents to manage wallets programmatically.
The timing isn't accidental. AI agents — bots that execute tasks like trading, paying, or booking — need somewhere to hold and spend funds. Privy's infrastructure lets them do that without forcing users to interact with clunky wallet interfaces.
Stripe's crypto bet continues
Privy still operates as an independent product, but its technology is woven into Stripe's broader crypto stack. That gives Stripe a direct line to the agent economy, a market that's still taking shape but already drawing serious developer attention. Soon noted that Latin America, where volatile currencies drive stablecoin adoption, is a strong adopter from a B2C perspective.
Users can spend directly from their Privy wallet balances on Visa cards in over 100 countries. That's a hint at where this is headed: agents that can pay for cloud compute, subscriptions, or even coffee without human intervention.
Wallets as the next Starbucks balance
Soon's stated goal is to make wallets fade from view — comparable to a Starbucks balance, she said. The idea is that users shouldn't have to think about the underlying crypto rail any more than they think about the payment network when tapping a card. For AI agents, that abstraction is even more critical; they execute, not explain.
Competition catches on
Privy isn't alone in chasing this overlap. Coinbase and Trust Wallet have also launched tools targeting AI agents. But Privy's position inside Stripe — which processes payments for millions of online businesses — gives it a distribution advantage few rivals can match.
It's still early. The question hanging over the space is how many of these agent experiments turn into real, sustained usage. For now, the sign-up numbers suggest developers are voting with their registrations.
