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Despite lagging behind its competitors in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, Cardano (ADA) has taken a significant step towards integrating artificial intelligence with blockchain.
The project’s developers have begun integrating the x402 payment standard developed by Coinbase into the Cardano network. This step aims to enable artificial intelligence (AI) agents to make on-chain payments using the ADA and USDM stablecoins.
The Masumi blockchain team, which operates within the ADA ecosystem, is leading the system’s implementation. ADA founder Charles Hoskinson described the development as “a huge step for Cardano” in a post on the X platform.
The x402 protocol allows bots or AI-based agents to manage transactions on-chain without centralized control or human intervention.
By integrating this technology into Cardano, AI agents will be able to automatically execute complex DeFi transactions such as token swaps, staking, and lending. This is considered a significant step towards full automation of smart contracts on the network.
Despite having a market capitalization of $24 billion, ADA only has $322 million in locked assets (TVL) in the DeFi ecosystem, falling short of major networks like Ethereum and Solana, as well as Layer-2 networks like Base and Optimism.
Hoskinson has long voiced his frustration with Cardano’s DeFi growth. He criticized the Cardano Foundation for being “slow and ineffective,” saying that the foundation attempted to increase network activity by spending $15 million in 2024, but it failed to achieve the expected impact.
In October, the Cardano community approved a $33 million ADA fund to increase liquidity for the DeFi stablecoin.
Despite this, Cardano’s stablecoin market capitalization is only around $36 million. For comparison, Ethereum’s market capitalization is around $164 billion and Tron’s is around $79 billion.
*This is not investment advice.
