Bridge And Deus X Capital Executives Say AI Agents And Corporates Will Drive Stablecoin Boom

Executives from Bridge and Deus X Capital said at Consensus 2026 in Miami that large corporates and AI agents will lead the next stablecoin boom, with stablecoins positioned for cross-border treasury flows and autonomous payments.

“AI agents and large corporates will lead the next stablecoin boom, executives say Stablecoins are entering a new phase of adoption, with large corporations using them for cross-border treasury flows while AI agents begin using blockchain rails for autonomous payments, Bridge and Deus X Capital executives said at Consensus 2026”

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Bridge strategy and operations leader Lindsey Einhaus said, "Large institutions are looking to utilize stablecoins to manage cross-border flows and really collapse a lot of their account management into stablecoins," and she pointed to payment-focused blockchains like Tempo as enablers.

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Einhaus argued that blockchain-based stablecoin rails could make AI-driven micropayments economically viable by reducing transaction fees, saying, "With stablecoin-native blockchains, you’re going to dramatically reduce transaction costs."

Deus X Capital CEO Tim Grant said agentic payments—"autonomous AI systems transacting with each other"—may become a major crypto use case, while also warning that infrastructure fragmentation across multiple blockchains and wallets remains a hurdle.

Ripple President Monica Long predicted in a Monday blog post that "50% of Fortune 500 companies will have cryptocurrencies in 2026," and she said roughly 250 of the United States' largest corporations will own cryptocurrencies or use blockchain-based financial instruments by the end of 2026.

Long said blockchain is becoming the "operational layer of modern finance" and that 2026 will see a significant rise in institutional adoption, adding that "By the end of 2026, balance sheets will contain more than $1 trillion in crypto assets."

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She cited a Coinbase survey from mid-2025 finding that six in ten Fortune 500 executives indicated their employers were already working on blockchain initiatives.

Long also forecast that within the next five years, stablecoins will be "fully integrated into global payment systems," and she said privacy will be key, with zero-knowledge proofs allowing AI systems to evaluate solvency or risk profiles without exposing sensitive data.

Bridge and Deus X Capital executives said institutional sentiment is shifting as regulators become more supportive, with Tim Grant telling the audience, "Before, you had to push institutions to pay attention," and adding, "Now they’re pulling."

“Ripple President: 50% of Fortune 500 companies will have cryptocurrencies in 2026”

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Grant also cautioned that regulation around autonomous financial activity is still evolving, even as he described agentic payments as a strong use case.

Coinbax, which took the top spot at Consensus Miami with software built to add compliance controls to onchain payments, won the $20,000 grand prize at Consensus Miami’s PitchFest for its programmable escrow system.

The Coinbax description said its software uses smart contracts to hold funds in escrow while third-party services perform identity, sanctions and transaction-risk checks before releasing payments onchain, and it framed the approach as a way to manage compliance for stablecoin payments.