Skyfire Launches Blockchain-Powered Payment Network for AI Agents
In a groundbreaking move to empower the growing ecosystem of artificial intelligence (AI) agents, Skyfire, a fintech startup founded by former Ripple executives, has launched the world’s first payment network designed to facilitate fully autonomous transactions across AI agents, large language models (LLMs), and various service providers.
The company, which has raised $8.5 million in seed funding from a diverse group of investors, including Neuberger Berman, Brevan Howard Digital, and Ripple, is poised to revolutionize the way AI-powered systems interact with the digital economy.
“AI agents can’t do anything if they can’t make payments, it’s just a glorified search,” said Craig DeWitt, co-founder and Head of Product at Skyfire. “Either we figure out a way where agents are actually able to do things, or they don’t do anything, and therefore, they’re not agents.”
Skyfire’s payment network aims to bridge this critical gap by providing AI agents with the ability to make and receive payments without human intervention. The platform features an open, global payments protocol that allows AI agents to access a wide range of services, from LLMs to data platforms, without the need for traditional payment methods like subscriptions or credit cards.
One of the key features of Skyfire’s platform is its automated budgets and control system, which enables developers and their customers to set specific spending limits for AI agents, ensuring they operate within predefined business parameters. The platform also provides unique identifiers for AI agents, verifying their identity and transaction history to maintain trust and security within the ecosystem.
“The infrastructure opportunity for AI Agents is massive and new developments will drive advancement in Web3 across applications,” said Michael Arrington of Arrington Capital, one of Skyfire’s investors. “Skyfire has identified a very critical need at this point in time, assembled a team that has revolutionized payments before, understands the needs of this market deeply, and is moving fast enough to become the industry standard before the traditional payments players have a chance to catch up.”
Skyfire’s co-founders, Amir Sarhangi and Craig DeWitt, bring extensive experience in the payments and technology sectors, having previously held executive roles at Ripple, where they played a key role in developing the company’s instant, universal payment solutions.
The launch of Skyfire’s payment network comes at a time when the AI industry is experiencing exponential growth, with the market size of agent-to-agent commerce alone expected to reach $46 billion over the next three years, according to Skyfire’s estimates.
“AI Agents are a brand new customer base for businesses and a game-changing opportunity. Agentic AI commerce will surpass every payment innovation we’ve known, from credit cards to PayPal,” said Amir Sarhangi, CEO and co-founder of Skyfire.
By empowering AI agents with the ability to make autonomous payments, Skyfire is poised to unlock new revenue streams and transform the way businesses interact with this rapidly evolving segment of the digital economy. As the company continues to expand its reach and partnerships, the future of AI-powered commerce is about to get a whole lot more autonomous.
