Analysis
The first major L1 to embed programmable wallets for AI agents bypasses the merchant-of-record debate by building underneath it. The accountability gap, however, remains wide open.
On October 13, 2026, Ripple and Privy, a Stripe company, shifted the focus of agentic commerce downward. By embedding programmable wallet infrastructure directly into the XRP Ledger (XRPL), they have created the first major Layer 1 move to provide AI agents with native, autonomous financial capabilities.
Mechanics of L1 Integration
The integration allows developers to programmatically create and manage XRPL accounts, enabling AI agents to hold and transact funds using XRP, RLUSD, and other native assets. Each new account requires a 1 XRP minimum reserve for activation. While the current implementation focuses on core transaction signing, future capabilities such as policy controls for spend limits and gas sponsorship are in development but are not yet generally available.
The utility of this infrastructure relies on the x402 protocol, which facilitates machine-to-machine payments. According to vendor-sourced figures from the XRPL AI Hub and t54, the ledger has processed roughly 13–14 million AI agent payments, accounting for approximately 25% of network activity. Separately, x402 has seen 191.75 million cumulative transactions across 12 chains, though BigGo Finance estimates that 25–30% of this volume is likely test or leaderboard noise.
“Stablecoins are changing how money moves, and XRPL has been building for payments from the start,” said Henri Stern, CEO of Privy. “We’re excited to make Privy wallets available to developers building on XRPL, from global payments to agentic commerce, and whatever comes next.”
Positioning in the Checkout Wars
This infrastructure sits apart from the existing “agentic checkout” models identified in previous analysis, which include Shopify’s gate, Constructor’s in-agent checkout, and Salesforce’s authorization-as-checkout. Those models place the merchant of record at the center of the transaction. By moving the wallet to the L1 layer, Ripple and Privy enable agents to act as their own financial entities.
“A well-designed agent can monitor conditions, trigger a payment, handle asset conversion natively, confirm settlement, and move to the next step without requiring manual intervention at every stage,” said Ayo Akinyele, senior director of engineering at RippleX. Markus Infanger, SVP of RippleX at Ripple, added: “Privy brings proven wallet infrastructure that makes it easier for fintechs and developers to bring XRPL into real products, from payments and stablecoin experiences to emerging forms of agentic commerce. Paired with XRPL’s fast settlement, low transaction costs and native support for moving and exchanging digital assets, developers have a strong foundation to build financial products that can scale.”
The Accountability Gap
While the technical ability for an agent to hold and spend its own funds is now established, the legal and operational framework remains unsettled. The current merchant-of-record debate assumes a human-centric liability model. However, 93% of merchants believe that AI or agent providers should bear the financial loss when an agent makes an incorrect purchase, according to PYMNTS Intelligence data from September.
Aaron McPherson, principal at AFM Consulting, remains skeptical of the current trajectory. “There are many unanswered questions in Ripple’s tool kit regarding accountability for errors that the card networks are better positioned to answer, being in the business of administering governance frameworks,” McPherson noted. He suggests that the industry may ultimately favor a “stablecoin sandwich” model, where stablecoins serve as a settlement mechanism behind traditional card networks rather than replacing them entirely.
The Amex Intent Intelligence Framework represents another approach, focusing on the issuer side to provide evidence for dispute adjudication. By building underneath the merchant-of-record debate, Ripple and Privy have changed the shape of the checkout question, but they have not yet resolved the underlying liability gap.
Tessa Vaughn works for Forkast.
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