Google Cloud taps EigenLayer to bring trust to agentic payments

New integration makes EigenCloud the verifiable backbone for AI agents settling payments across cards, bank rails, and blockchains

article-image

JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

Two days after unveiling AP2 — a universal payment layer for AI agents that supports everything from credit cards to stablecoins — Google and EigenLayer have released details of their partnership to bring verifiability and restaking security to the stack, using Ethereum.

In addition to enabling verifiable compute and slashing-backed payment coordination, EigenCloud will support insured and sovereign AI agents, which introduce consequences for failure or deviation from specified behavior.

Sovereign agents are positioned as autonomous actors that can own property, make decisions, and execute actions independently — think smart contracts with embedded intelligence.

From demos to dollars

AP2 extends Google’s agent-to-agent (A2A) protocol using the HTTP 402 status code — long reserved for “payment required” — to standardize payment requests between agents across different networks. It already supports stablecoins like USDC, and Coinbase has demoed an agent checkout using its Wallet-as-a-Service.

Paired with a system like Lit Protocol’s Vincent — which enforces per-action policies and key custody at signing — Google’s AP2 with EigenCloud’s verifiability and cross-chain settlement could form an end-to-end trust loop.

Payments between agents aren’t as simple as they are often made to sound by “Crypto x AI” LARPs. When an AI agent requests a payment in USDC on Base and the payer’s funds are locked in ETH on Arbitrum, the transaction stalls — unless something abstracts the bridging, swapping and delivery. That’s where EigenCloud comes in.

Sreeram Kannan, founder of EigenLayer, said the integration will create agents that not only run on-chain verifiable compute, but are also economically incentivized to behave within programmable bounds.

Through restaked operators, EigenCloud powers a verifiable payment service that handles asset routing and chain abstraction, with dishonest behavior subject to slashing. It also introduces cryptographic accountability to the agents themselves, enabling proofs that an agent actually executed the task it was paid for.

Loading Tweet..

It’s a crowded field, with many projects vying to anchor agent settlement and accountability; EigenCloud faces rivals ranging from Autonolas’ OLAS staking layer and the Eliza (formerly AI16z) agent developer ecosystem, to NEAR’s Chain Signatures intent stack, and Ritual’s verifiable AI compute.

Still, if AP2 becomes the standard interface for billions of autonomous agents, EigenCloud’s restaked security and cross-chain payment verification could become indispensable infrastructure.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (1).jpg

Research

As AI supercharges surveillance, privacy becomes a prerequisite and the winning stack will combine confidentiality with selective disclosure. Zcash’s Tachyon, composable standards on Ethereum/Solana, and compliance-aware pools aim to make private rails the new norm.

article-image

The startup says it aims to rival Stripe and Worldpay by using stablecoins to speed merchant settlements from days to seconds

by Blockworks /
article-image

“S&P 500” for crypto comes as segment gains “established role in global markets,” S&P exec says

article-image

The S&P Digital Markets 50 Index combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 crypto-linked companies, offering investors hybrid exposure

by Blockworks /
article-image

Gnosis is betting that openness — not ownership — will define the future of onchain money

article-image

Crypto’s quest to imbue shareholder protections for tokens

article-image

Grass previously raised a seed and Series A rounds and plans to utilize the token purchase to execute on its roadmap