Digital asset custody and wallet provider Cobo becomes the latest Web3 payments provider to join Google’s AI agent payments protocol, with live demos starting in 2026.
summary
- Singapore-based Cobo has joined Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) community. AP2 is an open payments standard that allows AI agents to perform secure and verifiable transactions on behalf of users.
- Cobo will leverage its institutional custodial expertise to power its autonomous payment system and launch an AP2-based application with a live demo in February 2026.
In a recent post shared on October 21, Singapore-based Cobo announced that it has joined Google’s partner network involved in the Agent Payments Protocol Community (AP2). This project is an open payment standard introduced by Google for the AI agent economy and extends the communication protocol between agents.
For this project, Google announced a collaboration with more than 60 organizations, including payment companies, merchants, and technology companies, who have been recognized as AP2 adoption partners. This list already includes major industry players such as MetaMask, Coinbase (BASE), and Ethereum Foundation. (Ethereum)Circle (USDC). Not only that, major payment companies such as Mastercard, American Express, and PayPal are also listed as partners.
According to the official description, Google’s Agent Payments Protocol is an open standard protocol launched by the tech giant. It is designed to enable secure and verifiable payments initiated by an AI agent on behalf of users. This means that users will soon be able to perform payment services with the help of autonomous agents.
You may also like: Google taps crypto giant to expand AI payment protocol
Cobo’s vision for Google’s AP2
According to the official announcement, Cobo plans to release a series of practical applications based on the AP2 framework, with live demos scheduled for February 2026. The company appears to be hinting at emerging technologies that could emerge from Google’s AP2, which could range from autonomous financial bots, self-executing DeFi strategies, and systems that allow users to buy compute on demand.
Given Cobo’s background in institutional custody solutions, the company can be expected to contribute by providing the backend infrastructure that AP2 requires for secure and auditable payments by agents.
Overall, the AP2 protocol is designed to allow AI agents to initiate and execute payments on behalf of users with user authorization, verifiable intent, and a clear audit trail. On the Web3 and cryptocurrency side, Google’s AP2 could accelerate Web3 payments and new business models such as micropayments and agent-to-agent service payments as part of the digital economy.
So far, the ecosystem spans multiple domains including payment networks, merchant platforms, AI agent developers, Web3, and crypto infrastructure. For example, the x402 extension works with Coinbase to enable agent-to-agent cryptocurrency payments via stablecoins.
Back in March 2025, Cobo entered into a partnership with Core to bring a dual Bitcoin (BTC) staking solution to the ecosystem. With this integration, Cobo users will be able to start staking both Bitcoin and CORE tokens to earn the income that Bitcoin generates.
You may also like: Bitcoin staking layer Core integrates Cobo to expand dual BTC staking in Asia
