The Phrase “Agentic Web” is beginning to surface in Venture Capital circles, and among Technologists who are thinking about the Next Stage of the Internet. At its core, the Concept refers to a Digital Ecosystem in which Artificial Intelligence Agents act Not merely as Tools for Humans but as Independent Actors Capable of Transacting, Negotiating, and Coordinating with One another. These Agents rely on Shared Infrastructure, Identity systems, Verification Protocols, and Payment Rails, that enables them to Interact Securely without Direct Human Oversight.
A Startup called Kite has emerged as One of the First Companies to attempt toBbuild this Infrastructure, Attracting an $18 million Series A Investment from PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst. The Company Envisions a Blockchain based Framework where AI Agents can establish Trusted Identities and Execute Stablecoin Payments instantly. Although Kite is Early, it Represents a broader movement toward constructing the technical backbone of the agentic web. It is highly probable that other firms, both crypto-native and traditional financial players, will attempt similar projects.
To understand why this shift matters, it helps to consider everyday examples. Take online shopping. Today, consumers navigate platforms such as Amazon or Shopify, manually search for products, compare options, and enter payment details. In an agentic web, this workflow could collapse into a single instruction: “Order me a pair of Nike Pegasus in size 11.” A personal AI agent could confirm product availability across multiple verified merchant agents, determine the best price, and complete the transaction automatically using a stablecoin payment. Trust in the merchant would be established through blockchain-based verification, eliminating the risk of counterfeits or fraudulent sellers.
The travel industry offers another illustration. Planning a trip currently requires searching across multiple websites for flights, hotels, and ground transportation, followed by repeated data entry. In contrast, an agentic framework would allow an individual to request: “Book me a trip to Berlin next month with accommodations near the conference center.” Their AI agent could then interact directly with Lufthansa’s agent, Hilton’s agent, and Uber’s agent, each verified by blockchain identity credentials. The result would be a fully constructed itinerary, booked and paid for in seconds, without human intervention beyond the initial request.
The commercial applications extend far beyond consumer-facing convenience. Business-to-business transactions are often plagued by inefficiencies. Supplier contracts, procurement, and invoicing can take weeks to complete. An auto manufacturer’s AI agent, for instance, might detect the need for 500 additional lithium batteries and immediately initiate negotiations with a verified supplier’s agent. Contract terms could be codified into a smart contract, with payment executed instantly via stablecoins. The agentic web could thus compress multi-week processes into minutes, lowering administrative overhead and enabling firms to operate at machine speed.
Kite’s approach is structured around two central components: the Agency Passport, which establishes verifiable digital identities for AI agents, and the Agent App Store, where agents discover merchants, data services, and other resources. Together, these components seek to replicate the dual role of identity verification and marketplace access that underpinned earlier phases of the internet. Where the early web required SSL certificates and search engines, the agentic web may require passports and app stores for autonomous software.
Payments are an essential part of this vision. Traditional rails are too slow and costly for machine-to-machine micropayments. Stablecoins, which can settle transactions instantly with minimal fees, are better suited to an environment where machines might transact thousands of times per second. Consider an autonomous electric vehicle that charges itself at a verified station and pays automatically for the power consumed, or a drone that purchases live weather data before completing a delivery route. These examples highlight why programmable, low-cost money is a prerequisite for the agentic economy.
The implications extend beyond commerce into critical sectors. In healthcare, hospital agents, insurer agents, and laboratory agents could securely share patient data through blockchain verification, ensuring both privacy and interoperability. In logistics and smart cities, traffic management systems, delivery drones, and energy grids could negotiate resource allocation dynamically. Even media consumption may shift toward micropayment models, in which users pay fractions of a cent for a page of content or seconds of streaming, enabled by the speed and cost efficiency of stablecoin transactions.
None of this is without challenges. The infrastructure must scale to handle billions of real-time interactions securely and at low cost. Standards will be necessary so that one company’s agents can reliably communicate with another’s. Regulators will also need to address liability questions: if an AI agent transacts improperly or makes a purchase in error, who is ultimately responsible? Nevertheless, the participation of established players such as PayPal Ventures signals that investors view these hurdles as solvable.
Kite is not the only firm pursuing this vision, and it will not be the last. If the agentic web takes hold, multiple platforms will compete to supply the trust and payment layers. Some may be rooted in decentralized blockchains, while others may be proprietary systems offered by payment processors or cloud providers. What unites these efforts is the recognition that AI will increasingly act on behalf of humans, and that such actions require a verifiable and programmable economic framework.
The history of the internet suggests how such transformations unfold. The early web was static and informational, then evolved into interactive platforms, then into mobile-first ecosystems. Each phase built on new forms of infrastructure that changed how humans and machines interacted. The agentic web represents a potential next phase: a digital economy where AI agents, rather than humans, are the primary participants in transactions.
For now, the vision remains nascent but there is a clear trajectory. As AI agents become more capable and specialized, the demand for secure, verifiable, and instantaneous interaction will grow. Whether through Kite’s blockchain or another system yet to emerge, the agentic web points toward an economy in which machines negotiate, purchase, and coordinate at speeds impossible for humans. If realized, it will mark not just a new application of AI or crypto, but a structural evolution in how the internet itself operates.
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