Cloudflare launches wallets for AI agents & payments

Cloudflare has launched Cloudflare Wallets and cloudflare.id for AI agents, giving online businesses a way to identify agents and control payments made on a user's behalf.

The move addresses a growing problem for websites and online services as software agents begin to browse, sign up for services and make purchases without direct human input. Businesses can often detect traditional bots, but they have fewer tools to distinguish a legitimate AI assistant from an automated system designed to abuse free trials, scrape data or commit fraud.

Cloudflare's new identity system gives each account a unique web address that acts as a verified identifier. Users can then extend that identity to individual agents, allowing a business on the receiving end to see who authorised a request while still letting users remain pseudonymous.

Cloudflare has also introduced a wallet structure for agent-led transactions. An Account Wallet sits at the top level and can receive, hold and manage stablecoins funded through bank transfer.

Users can then create Virtual Wallets for specific agents. Those wallets can be limited by overall spending caps, approved merchant lists and maximum transaction size, meaning an agent cannot spend beyond rules set by its owner.

The products are designed to work with Cloudflare's existing Monetisation Gateway, which it positions as a way for online sellers to accept payments from software agents. Together, the identity and wallet systems are meant to create both sides of an agent-based commercial transaction: a way for sellers to know who they are dealing with and a way for agents to pay under defined controls.

The announcement reflects a broader shift in internet traffic. AI agents are becoming more common in tasks once handled directly by people, from online research and price comparison to account creation and digital purchases.

That shift creates a trust problem for businesses. Block unknown automated traffic too aggressively, and they risk turning away legitimate customer agents. Leave systems open, and they may expose themselves to misuse. Cloudflare is positioning itself between those pressures by offering an identity layer linked to payment controls.

Identity problem

At present, websites can often identify an IP address, browser type or behavioural pattern, but those signals do not always reveal whether an agent has been sent by a real customer or by an attacker. Cloudflare's approach is to link agent activity to a parent account in a way that lets a business judge trust before granting access or completing a sale.

That is likely to matter in areas such as subscription services, API access and eCommerce, where businesses may want to permit transactions by approved agents while refusing unknown automated requests. Businesses receiving a request would be able to see exactly who authorised it.

On the payment side, Cloudflare has chosen a stablecoin-based structure rather than relying on card rails or direct account-to-account authorisation for each purchase. The use of separate Virtual Wallets also mirrors how companies manage employee cards or prepaid budgets, but applies those controls to software agents instead of people.

The launch suggests internet infrastructure providers see agent commerce as a market in its own right rather than simply an extension of chatbot use. If AI agents are to buy digital services, compute resources or subscriptions autonomously, merchants need a way to assess identity and collect payment without relying on manual review.

Matthew Prince, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cloudflare, said the company believes the web's underlying systems must adapt to that change.

"The Internet is shifting from human-driven browsing to agent-driven commerce, and the infrastructure needs to keep up," Prince said.

He added that identification is central to whether those transactions can work at scale. "When an agent shows up at your door, you need to know who sent it. Cloudflare can give agents a face-a link to the human or organisation that owns them-so that trust, accountability, and real commerce can follow. It's the identity and payment infrastructure the agentic web needs to function."

Commercial controls

By separating account-level funds from agent-specific spending tools, Cloudflare is trying to reduce the risk of autonomous overspending or misuse. A company deploying several agents for different tasks could assign each one its own limits and merchant permissions, rather than exposing a single shared payment source.

That matters because one practical barrier to agent commerce is not only merchant trust but owner trust. Even where businesses are willing to accept agent traffic, users may hesitate to let autonomous systems transact freely unless clear financial guardrails are in place.

Cloudflare said wallet handle reservation has opened, while broader wallet features, including adding and withdrawing funds and issuing Virtual Wallets, are planned for a later release. The service is tied to accounts deployed on its platform, reinforcing its strategy of making network, security and developer services part of one commercial stack.