Send a Circle agent USDC nanopayment in 2026

Circle Agent Nanopayments allow AI agent wallets to make gas-free USDC payments as small as $0.000001 by depositing funds once onchain into a Gateway Wallet, signing offchain EIP-3009 TransferWithAuthorization requests, and using Circle’s Gateway to batch and settle those authorizations. Payments are initiated with the Circle CLI and settle from the Gateway balance rather than burning gas for each call.

Teams set up an AI agent wallet, install the Circle CLI and deposit USDC into the Gateway Wallet contract on a supported chain. After the onchain deposit, the agent signs offchain EIP-3009 authorizations for each x402 payment request. Gateway aggregates authorizations and performs batched onchain settlement so individual microtransactions do not incur per-call gas costs. Users can discover payable APIs and services through Circle’s Agent Marketplace and inspect service payment requirements before executing a payment with circle services pay.

Required software includes Node.js v20.18.2 or later and the global Circle CLI package. Typical commands include circle gateway deposit to fund the Gateway Wallet, circle services search and circle services inspect to verify x402 endpoints, circle services pay to execute a payment against the Gateway balance, and circle gateway balance to check remaining funds. A one-time withdraw returns residual funds to the wallet when an agent finishes work.

Circle documentation states same-chain x402 payments that match the Gateway balance carry no Gateway protocol fee. Crosschain x402 payments add a 0.5 basis point fee. Circle also documents a sponsored gas allowance on agent wallets for onchain actions; that allowance is capped and subject to fair-use limits. Gateway batched settlement requires Externally Owned Account signatures and does not support ERC-1271 smart-contract wallet signature flows; smart-contract wallets must use an alternative Gateway path. Third-party fast-deposit routes such as Eco set their own fees and are not operated or audited by Circle.

Operational concerns include ensuring the Agent Wallets quickstart is completed so wallets can sign authorizations, performing spend reconciliation to track per-agent usage, and budgeting for crosschain and third-party deposit fees. Circle’s examples use a small test on Base, such as depositing 5 USDC into a Gateway Wallet and paying a single inspected x402 URL with a tight max-amount setting, then confirming the Gateway balance before broader use.

Circle documents the design as gas-free, batched USDC payments at sub-cent scale for AI agents paying x402-compatible services. Sellers may run Gateway themselves to receive Gateway deposits or use an x402 facilitator to verify and settle authorizations on their behalf.