Google Cloud and PayPal executives said at Consensus that AI agents may need crypto-based payment infrastructure because they cannot use traditional bank accounts. Google launched the Agentic Payments Protocol, a framework designed to support payments for AI-driven transactions, with more than 120 partners including PayPal, and said it donated the protocol to the FIDO Foundation (identity standards group). PayPal added that 95% of merchant sites already see AI agent traffic, but only 20% currently offer machine-readable catalogs, highlighting a gap between AI-driven shopping activity and the technical systems needed to support it. The comments point to a potential role for blockchain-based payment rails (digital networks for moving value) in machine-to-machine commerce, where software agents need programmable, internet-native ways to transact.