XDC Network partners with Keyban to give AI agents non-custodial accounts for onchain USDC payments

XDC Network and Keyban have partnered to let AI agents hold their own accounts and pay for services, without companies giving up control of their funds. 

Keyban, a startup building non-custodial accounts for AI agents, provides a dedicated account layer for XDC AI, XDC Network’s agent payments marketplace. Each agent holds a separate balance, and Keyban never takes custody of client funds.

Agents pay per call in USDC, with limits set by finance

Under the partnership, agents use their Keyban accounts to discover and pay for APIs on XDC AI. They pay in USDC, per call, and every transaction settles on XDC Network. 

Finance teams set how much each agent can spend. Every payment is recorded onchain and tied to the task that triggered it, with no shared corporate cards or pooled wallets.

Founders say agents need payment rails built for them

“AI agents are becoming economic actors in their own right, but the financial system was never built for them,” says Atul Khekade, Co-Founder, XDC Network. “Today, most agents still pay through shared corporate cards or pooled wallets designed for people, which leaves businesses unable to see which agent spent what or set limits on any one of them. Agentic payments need infrastructure where agents can transact independently and in real time, while the businesses behind them stay in control of every dollar. That is what we are building on XDC, and it is what will move the agentic economy from pilots to production.”

“AI agents are starting to do real work, and real work costs money: for data, APIs and digital services. No CFO is going to hand an agent the corporate card and hope for the best,” says Charles Kremer, Founder of Keyban. “Keyban gives every agent a dedicated account, with budgets and rules set by finance and every payment tied to the task that triggered it. On XDC AI, an agent can discover a service and pay for it in seconds. The agent gets autonomy; finance keeps control.”

XDC pushes to become the settlement layer for the agentic economy

The integration strengthens XDC Network’s position as a settlement layer for the agentic economy, where AI agents transact with businesses and with each other in real time. With Keyban managing agent accounts and XDC AI handling discovery and payment, companies can deploy agents on XDC with spending controls in place from the start.

Keyban is also part of the Plug and Play Agentic Payments and Finance accelerator, run in partnership with XDC Network, which provides mentorship, business development support and investor access to startups building in the XDC ecosystem.