Erik Reppel, head of engineering at Coinbase, offered insight into how artificial intelligence could reshape the internet’s economy, saying AI agents could force a shift away from the web’s advertising-driven business model.
Speaking on stage at Consensus Miami 2026, Reppel, founder of payment protocol x402 and head of engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform, said the internet was originally built around humans interacting with websites, not software interacting with software.
“The Internet was designed for humans to use,” Reppel said. “We now live in a world where humans and computers work and computers make computers work. »
Today’s web economy relies heavily on advertising revenue generated when humans visit websites and view ads, according to Reppel. But AI agents, he says, bypass that system entirely.
“Agents don’t see these ads. They just completely ignore them,” he said.
This dynamic could push the internet toward new monetization models built around native digital payments, particularly micropayments powered by stablecoins.
“If a human visits a website, show them an ad. If an agent visits a website, charge them five cents,” Reppel said.
He designed x402, an open payment protocol built around the long-unused HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code, as an infrastructure for this future. The protocol is designed to enable AI agents to make automatic payments for APIs, content and digital services using cryptographic rails.
Reppel said the rise of autonomous AI systems, or what he calls the “agentic economy,” could create a massive new market for internet-native payments. He cited estimates that the sector could reach between $3 trillion and $5 trillion within four years.
The comments reflect a broader effort within the crypto industry to position blockchain-based stablecoins and payments as fundamental infrastructure for AI-driven commerce.
“Agents are truly the navigator of the future,” he said.
Read more: AI agents are breaking the web economy, but Cloudflare says x402 can help
