Bernstein: Circle and Coinbase are the "best representative targets" to benefit from stablecoin growth as intelligent agent payments rise

Mars Finance News, March 23 — According to The Block, analysts from research and brokerage firm Bernstein pointed out that Circle and Coinbase are the main tools for gaining exposure to stablecoin growth. This is due to their collaboration around USDC and the emerging role of stablecoins in “smart agent payments,” which could become a significant driver of future growth.

In a report released on Monday, analyst Gautam Chhugani wrote: “We believe that smart agent payments provide upside optionality for stablecoins. While this is not currently a factor impacting demand for stablecoins, they may play a role in the future smart agent economy.”

The analysts explained that “machine payments” refer to transactions initiated, authorized, and completed by software or autonomous devices, rather than by humans. These payments differ from automatic bill payments or subscriptions; they are fundamentally programmatic, capable of real-time decision-making, price negotiation, and instant settlement without human intervention.

Bernstein believes stablecoins have inherent advantages in this environment due to their programmability, real-time settlement, support for micro-payments, and global accessibility. Payment logic such as escrow, conditional payments, or revenue sharing can be directly embedded into stablecoins, allowing smart agents to complete transactions without connecting to banks or waiting for confirmation.

The report also notes that transactions can settle within seconds, enabling AI agents to pay for computing power or data in real time; high-throughput blockchains and state channels make large-scale microtransactions economically feasible; and stablecoins’ cross-border nature eliminates reliance on SWIFT, correspondent banking systems, or foreign exchange conversions, further reducing transaction costs.