Circle’s Kash Razzaghi makes the case for USDC as the currency of AI agents

Circle has a new customer segment in mind, and it does not have a pulse. In an October 12, 2026 appearance on the NYSE/ICE House Podcast, Circle Chief Commercial Officer Kash Razzaghi described AI agents as a fresh category of buyer. He also argued that these agents gravitate toward USDC for a handful of practical reasons. What Razzaghi laid out Razzaghi framed USDC’s appeal around three priorities that matter to machines more than to people: programmability, low transaction costs, and availability at any hour. Circle’s own figures suggest the pitch is landing. As of mid-October 2026, the company reported 165 million transactions involving approximately 80,000 agents. Circle also reported that USDC accounted for 99-99.8% of transaction value on the x402 protocol, a payments standard used for these agent-driven transactions. Cost is a big part of the story. Circle says USDC enables near-zero-cost settlement, with transactions as small as $0.000001. AI agents are becoming new customers that prefer USDC based on three key priorities. That framing, shared alongside the interview, captures how Circle wants the market to see this shift. Agents are not just tools that move money on someon...