Polkadot-based interoperability protocol Moonbeam said it is transitioning to Ethereum Layer 2 Base to launch its AI agent communication and payments network, with the goal of gaining share of the emerging market.
“This marks the most exciting frontier in cryptocurrency: autonomous AI agents finding each other, negotiating tasks, and paying each other on-chain without intermediaries,” Moonbeam said in announcing the Moonbeam Protocol last Friday.
“We believe that AI-driven on-chain orchestration represents a significant long-term opportunity. This transition will allow us to focus our resources in that direction,” Moonbeam added.
Moonbeam did not provide a release schedule for the Moonbeam protocol.
source: moonbeam
Agentic developments have seen significant adoption in the cryptocurrency industry, with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire predicting that AI agents will become the dominant users of blockchain-based payments in the next few years.
Coinbase’s x402 payments protocol has been one of the biggest drivers of this push, and layer-1 blockchains Aptos and Near have also launched infrastructure to support agent-driven on-chain activities.
However, adoption in the blockchain-based payments space has been difficult to get off the ground. Data from Artemis shows that in the past 30 days, only $2 million has been traded over the x402 protocol.
AI agent development is progressing slowly even in Big Tech. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the technology has not accelerated the company’s workflows as quickly as expected.
Moonbeam hits Polkadot.
Several members of the cryptocurrency community said Moonbeam’s pivot was a major setback for the Polkadot ecosystem. One X user calls Moonbeam Polkadot’s “flagship project.”
“This is a real headache for Polkadot,” said another X user.
Moonbeam will launch as a Polkadot parachain in January 2022, giving developers the ability to build Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible applications directly on the Polkadot ecosystem.
Instruct Moonbeam users to migrate their tokens
Moonbeam (GLMR) holders will need to link their tokens from Moonbeam’s Polkadot parachain to Base before July 31, 2026, including GLMR linked to lending markets, staking contracts, and other decentralized finance protocols, Moonbeam said.
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Those holding tokens on centralized exchanges do not need to take any action, Moonbeam said.
Moonbeam said it will continue to provide cross-chain interoperability services on the Polkadot parachain during the transition period and will not abandon existing builders or infrastructure providers.
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