Agentic Finance Comprehensive Report Q1 2026: x402 Payments Surpass $50 Million; 24,000 Agents Registered on ERC-8004 Since Launch
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Agentic Finance Comprehensive Report Q1 2026: x402 Payments Surpass $50 Million; 24,000 Agents Registered on ERC-8004 Since Launch
This report is a must-read for understanding the current landscape of the AgentFi sector and its trajectory through 2026.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Cambrian Network
Translation & Compilation: TechFlow
TechFlow Intro: This is the most comprehensive quarterly industry report to date on the convergence of “AI Agents + crypto infrastructure,” released by Cambrian Network. Rather than merely listing projects, the report analyzes the market’s evolutionary logic—from rule-based decision-making to LLM-powered intelligence, from user-held keys to agent-autonomous execution, and the latest real-world deployments of critical infrastructure such as the x402 payment standard and the ERC-8004 identity protocol. For anyone seeking to understand the current landscape of the AgentFi sector—and its trajectory through 2026—this report is essential reading.
Full Report Below:
Since our previous Agentic Finance Landscape Report, published in December 2025, this market segment has experienced explosive growth. We’ve witnessed a constant influx of new projects, rising adoption rates, and autonomous agents actively operating atop crypto infrastructure. The data confirms this momentum: x402 payments continue accelerating, with over 15 million transactions completed in the past 30 days—and institutional partnerships established with major companies including AWS and Stripe. ERC-8004 launched on mainnet in late January, a standard designed to establish trust between agents and markets.
Agentic Finance Landscape Report Q1 2026
This edition surveys the full spectrum of autonomous products enabling retail users to participate in decentralized finance (DeFi). As before, we applied strict inclusion criteria: projects must be active and publicly available, with real users and live capital under management. Agents are categorized by product type.
Note: In this edition, products previously classified as “Liquidity Provision Agents” and “Lending Agents” have been consolidated into the broader “Yield” category—reflecting the increasingly diversified approaches agents use to generate returns.
What Is Agentic Finance?
Agentic Finance is an emerging market segment whose products employ automation to actively manage users’ funds or deliver financial advice. Inspired by ChatGPT, Claude Code, and emerging open-source agent tools like OpenClaw and Moltbot, some products leverage large language models (LLMs), while others rely on hard-coded rules or traditional machine learning. Regardless of underlying technology, many describe themselves as “agentic.”
The earliest form of Agentic Finance was simple automated trading bots. The DeFi Summer of 2020–2021 brought yield farming bots and vault protocols like Yearn—automating yield harvesting and compounding—but their logic remained deterministic: “If X, then execute Y.” By 2022–2023, automation had expanded cross-protocol and cross-chain (e.g., bots managing collateral ratios, rebalancing LP positions, chasing yields across lending markets), yet users still held private keys and manually configured every parameter.
The first true inflection point arrived in 2024, when LLMs entered the tech stack—ushering in natural-language interfaces, AI-driven analytical agents, and conversational trading. The decisive breakthrough came in 2025: the emergence of closed-loop agents acting strictly according to predefined rules, without requiring human approval. Today, Agentic Finance is a recognized market category—and the Cambrian team is proud to have pioneered the terms “agentic finance” and “AgentFi” to define this segment. The products covered in this report represent the next major step in AgentFi’s evolution: software capable of making decisions, managing capital, and paying for its own operations.
Autonomy and Intelligence in Agentic Finance
Agentic Finance projects span numerous specialized use cases—but each can be mapped onto a simple coordinate system. The horizontal axis represents intelligence: rule-based systems (relying on mathematics and statistics) sit on the left; LLM-based systems (now commonly called “AI Agents”) sit on the right. The vertical axis represents autonomy: at the bottom are informational tools; in the middle are systems requiring manual intervention; at the top are systems executing autonomously within defined strategy boundaries—without needing approval.
Since the first edition of this report, the market has shifted upward—toward higher autonomy—yet the largest assets-under-management (AUM) products remain on the rule-based side for capital-allocation decisions. LLMs demonstrate clear advantages in interfaces, information retrieval, and analysis—but when it comes to moving funds, algorithmic, rule-based agents dominate, owing to their reliability and auditability.
AgentFi Market Growth: 2025–2026
Growth Metrics
Since the last report, the ecosystem has continued expanding. The number of unique users across onchain AgentFi products continues climbing. Over the past 30 days, Bankr and Giza led in user deposits—each recording over 900 deposits.
Among the leading agent projects dominating the space, yield-seeking agents stand alongside trading and portfolio optimization agents at the center of discussion.
We’re also seeing growing institutional interest—and active investment in building the infrastructure required for exponential Agentic Finance growth. Examples include: Grayscale’s launch of a decentralized AI fund at the end of 2025; Robinhood’s release of the Cortex assistant for retail users; and Visa’s introduction of the Trusted Agent Protocol—a framework designed for AI-powered commerce, built upon Coinbase’s x402 payment standard.
x402 continues expanding to new chains—now supporting BSC and Polygon in addition to Base and Solana. Though recent macro conditions have caused a slight slowdown, agent payment volumes remain strong, with cumulative x402 transaction volume exceeding $50 million. Over the past 30 days, Virtuals processed the majority of x402 volume.
Emerging Trends
If you’re active on X, you’ve likely noticed your timeline recently dominated by OpenClaw-style agents built on the OpenClaw core framework—e.g., clawdbotatg. These agents autonomously execute payments, mint tokens, conduct AI-driven crypto trades, and participate in prediction markets.
Bankr has become the widely adopted execution layer for these OpenClaw agents—providing programmable wallets and automatic fee redirection to help cover operational costs. And it’s not just Bankr: over 80 projects are now building Agentic infrastructure on Base specifically for OpenClaw-style agents, enabling them to participate in Agentic Finance.
Meanwhile, emerging agents are actively leveraging the recently launched ERC-8004—registering their identities as NFTs and building reputation histories to prove legitimacy. Since ERC-8004 went live on January 29, over 24,000 agents have registered.
With the combined deployment of all key standards referenced in prior reports—ERC-8004, x402, AP2, ACP—the crypto infrastructure stack is proving itself the most powerful underlying layer for AI agents to hold, transfer, and create monetary value—gatekeeper-free. A recent case in point: Coinbase’s newly launched Agentic Wallets.
Agentic Finance Landscape Q1 2026
In early 2026, retail users are the early adopters of Agentic Finance—while institutions are watching closely but remain far from full-scale adoption. Below is a representative list of retail-facing AgentFi products.
Cambrian applies strict screening criteria for inclusion in the Agentic Finance Landscape: we exclude projects still under development or internal testing—and those offering only an LLM interface while requiring humans to make “critical” decisions. This excludes many projects.
Trading & Portfolio Optimization Agents
Trading agents are what most people envision first when hearing “agentic finance.” These agents manage user funds by rebalancing portfolios or selecting assets to buy/sell. Trading decisions require access to exchanges, tradable assets, budgets, trading guidelines or rules, and high-quality data. The following tools support one or more of these requirements.
@askjimmy_ai: AI signal terminal with win-rate / P&L metrics and one-click execution
@HeyAnonai: Spot and leveraged trading via natural-language prompts
@get_truenorth: Trading powered by advanced discovery and research engine
@AIWayfinder: Autonomous multi-chain trading via onchain agents
@bankrbot: All-in-one DeFi terminal supporting cross-chain swaps and automated strategies
@glider_fi: Automated, customizable portfolio management
@AgentHustleAI: DeFi personal assistant—from basic swaps to custom automation strategies
@Velvet_Capital: DeFi app with info assistant enabling basic operations (e.g., swaps)
@SurfAI: DeFi research & execution assistant combining deep market analysis with automated trading workflows
@HeyElsaAI: AI assistant for managing crypto assets, executing DeFi trades, and delivering real-time cross-chain data
@elfa_ai: Analysis-first trading assistant integrating social signals and smart wallet tracking
@ethy_agent: Autonomous trading assistant executing trades, staking, yield strategies, and transfers directly from users’ smart wallets
@symphonyio: Cross-chain DeFi execution terminal with AI-powered trading assistance
@Cod3xOrg: Event-driven trading engine with terminal supporting updatable algorithmic trading strategies
@autonolas: Desktop-deployed autonomous portfolio management agent supporting adaptive DeFi strategies
@Butler_Agent: Orchestrator agent executing trades, yield farming, and DeFi automation via Virtuals Protocol agents
@fere_ai: AI assistant supporting cross-chain, meme coin, prediction market, and DeFi protocol trading
@modenetwork: Perpetual DEX with LLM-driven trading agents executing 24/7 per user-configured strategies
@minara: AI trading assistant featuring perpetual contract assistance and customizable agent workflows
@MiloOnChains: Solana trading agent supporting natural-language execution and optional 24-hour auto-trading
Yield Agents
Yield generation in AgentFi takes many forms—with lending protocols currently the most popular (borrowers pay interest; lenders earn yield). Users may also provide liquidity in DEX pools to earn trading fees—or deposit funds into curated vaults allocating capital across multiple venues. The following agents help users identify optimal risk-adjusted returns across these strategies.
Note: In earlier editions, we separated LP Agents and Yield Agents into distinct categories. Over time, however, we observed increasing convergence—where projects integrate multiple yield-generation strategies, including but not limited to lending, liquidity provision, and spot trading.
@afiprotocol_xyz: Yield optimization via non-custodial algorithmic agents managing liquidity and derivatives strategies
@almanak: Multi-strategy yield optimization powered by AI-generated strategies
ARMA by @gizatechxyz: Stablecoin yield agent
@ArrakisFinance: Automated market-making strategies
@getaxal: Identifies optimal lending protocols, liquidity pools, and delta-neutral yield strategies
@DeFiSaver: Lending across all major protocols—with automated liquidation protection
@Infinit_Labs: DeFi abstraction layer offering one-click preset agents and promptable DeFi strategies
@kamino: Automated lending protocol on Solana—optimizing yield, leveraged positions, and modular credit markets
@uselulo: Generates yield by depositing funds into overcollateralized lending pools
@mamo: Financial assistant designed to simplify personal financial management
@pendle_fi: Autonomous yield optimization across lending protocols, vaults, and delta-neutral strategies
@SaildotMoney: Automatically rotates capital across lending pools, vaults, and AMMs
@superformxyz: Non-custodial onchain digital bank aggregating yields across cross-chain lending protocols—with cross-chain deposit support
@Surf_Liquid: Onchain DeFi agent autonomously managing stablecoin yield—with verifiable rebalancing records
@RFLnow: Autonomous agent on Base—end-to-end LP yield farming, including liquidity deployment, harvesting, rebalancing, and return optimization
@Zyfai_: Lending yield management
Prediction & Gaming Agents
Prediction markets are platforms where users trade on future event outcomes—e.g., election results or sports matches. Such markets typically require monitoring news and other real-world data that changes in real time. Prediction markets are among the most exciting emerging categories in AgentFi. Agents can ingest and track real-world event information from vastly broader data sources than humans can manually process—making them ideal participants.
We expect this segment to grow steadily through 2026. Academic research—including this study by the Federal Reserve—shows prediction markets can provide valuable insights for decision-makers. Meanwhile, the CFTC is asserting jurisdiction—overriding state-level objections—to legalize prediction markets.
@AskBillyBets: Active in crypto-based sports betting and prediction markets
@sire_agent: AI-strategy-execution-driven pooled autonomous sports betting fund
Sentiment, Fundamental, News & Technical Analysis Agents
Investors typically use market analysis to decide *what* to buy—and sentiment analysis to decide *when*. LLMs have dramatically transformed market and sentiment analysis by scaling data volume, accelerating processing speed, and uncovering deeper contextual understanding through inter-source correlations. Unlike the agents above, analysis agents do not act directly—they deliver informative guidance. Given their proliferation, only a selection appears below.
@aixbt_agent: Crypto market intelligence, narrative detection, alpha analysis, KOL tracking
@DeepFortyTwo: Alpha-finding agent monitoring high-signal tweets on X—scoring and analyzing onchain and offchain data
LlamaAI by @DefiLlama: DeFi data assistant querying DefiLlama’s database for TVL, yields, fees, and token analytics
Messari Copilot by @MessariCrypto: Question-answering assistant powered by Messari research and real-time data—with cited sources
What’s Next for Agentic Finance in 2026
The first quarter of 2026 has served as a stress test for crypto infrastructure. Total crypto market cap peaked above $4 trillion before pulling back amid macro uncertainty. Yet BlackRock’s IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust) recorded a record-breaking $10 billion single-day trading volume in early February; tokenized RWA supply has surpassed $20 billion (with tokenized Treasuries alone reaching $8–10 billion—up from $5.5 billion in Q3 2025); and stablecoin supply has climbed to $310 billion.
Regulatory Clarity & Convergence of DeFi, TradFi, and AI
The regulatory landscape continues evolving toward clear, sustainable rules for the crypto economy. We view this as a major advancement—since regulatory clarity is key to unlocking meaningful TradFi capital flows into crypto. For example, under Chairman Paul Atkins, the SEC announced an “Innovation Exemption” and upcoming rulemaking on “crypto regulation”; the CLARITY Act—which clarifies CFTC/SEC jurisdiction—has realistic prospects of passing before the November 2026 midterm elections. Meanwhile, Hong Kong plans to issue its first stablecoin licenses in March 2026; the UK’s FCA has opened a regulatory sandbox supporting UK-issued stablecoins; and MiCA’s full CASP (Crypto Asset Service Provider) compliance deadline arrives in July 2026—following which Circle’s EURC has emerged as the dominant compliant euro stablecoin, after several EU exchanges delisted USDT last year.
Regulatory clarity—combined with battle-tested crypto infrastructure—is laying the foundation for institutional capital onboarding and scalable maturity of Agentic Finance. Over the coming months, we anticipate continued growth in both institutional adoption and Agentic Finance—but along parallel tracks. Agentic Finance must first establish credible performance records for retail users before institutions allocate meaningful capital; only then will these two trajectories converge.
We also expect stablecoin usage and agent payments to keep growing—as new autonomous agent trends (e.g., OpenClaw) emerge and demand programmatic access to APIs, compute resources, and third-party services. As the native settlement layer for machine-to-machine transactions, stablecoins are poised to become a key catalyst propelling Agentic Finance into the mainstream.
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