Cloudflare Enters Stablecoin Arena with NET Dollar, Targeting AI-Powered Payments
Cloudflare, a global leader in cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity, has announced plans to introduce NET Dollar, a US dollar-backed stablecoin designed to power the emerging landscape of AI-driven payments and microtransactions. The enterprise revealed its newest venture as part of a broader vision for what it terms the “agentic web,” propelled by autonomous digital agents and innovative payment protocols. NET Dollar aims to support instant, secure, and programmable transactions between AI agents and digital services, signaling a significant shift in the digital economy and internet business models.
The Vision: Enabling the Agentic Web
With the proliferation of artificial intelligence and automation, software agents increasingly manage complex tasks—from booking travel and ordering products to handling schedules and executing digital contracts. However, the seamless functioning of these AI agents in commercial contexts has been constrained by traditional financial railways, which are often slow, costly, and not built for high-frequency, small-value transactions.
Enter NET Dollar: Cloudflare’s answer to the need for a transactional medium that operates at the speed, scale, and programmability demanded by modern AI-driven economies. By leveraging a stablecoin backed one-to-one by US dollars, Cloudflare aspires to facilitate near-instantaneous transactions between AI agents and online services, regardless of geographic boundaries. Such innovation could mark a paradigm shift in the architecture of internet commerce.
Rethinking Internet Economics: From Ads to Pay-Per-Use
Matthew Prince, Cloudflare’s CEO, articulated the company’s motivation behind NET Dollar: “For decades, the internet has relied on advertising platforms and bank transfers. But as we move forward, pay-per-use models, fractional payments, and microtransactions will underpin the next phase of online commerce.” This sentiment reflects a growing trend—the desire to modernize and diversify monetization strategies for digital services and content creators.
Advertising revenue and subscription models have dominated how services are offered and monetized online, but these can suppress smaller transactions and limit direct rewards for developers or creators. NET Dollar, with its real-time settlement and global reach, opens pathways toward new business models based on incentivizing user actions, direct content monetization, and seamless in-app microtransactions.
Technical and Strategic Foundations
NET Dollar is designed as a fully-transparent, 1:1 US dollar-backed stablecoin, ensuring stability and user trust. It is engineered for interoperability and supports programmable payment features, making it highly suited for AI-driven tasks—from routine micro-purchases to more complex, conditional transactions.
Cloudflare’s global reach—spanning 120 countries—provides a robust backbone for its venture into digital payments. The company also contributes to industry standards, including the Agent Payments Protocol and x402, which aim to create open, interoperable systems for agent-based transactions. The focus is to ensure that every AI agent tapping into web resources or triggering financial actions can do so securely, instantly, and without friction.
Market Landscape: Stablecoins on the Rise
Cloudflare’s entry into the stablecoin sector positions it against established giants: Tether’s USDT, which commands $173 billion in market capitalization, and Circle’s USDC, valued at $73.7 billion. The total stablecoin market cap is nearing $300 billion, according to industry analytics. The space has witnessed a surge of recent innovation, with region-specific stablecoins like South Korea’s KRW1, pegged to the Korean won, and AnchorX’s AxCNH, linked to the offshore Chinese yuan, making their debut.
The expansion reflects the global appetite for digital currencies whose value does not swing with volatile markets, making them ideal for both retail and enterprise transactions. Stablecoins have gained popularity for cross-border trade, remittances, and as foundational assets for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Industry Trends: Growing Adoption and Evolving Protocols
The digital payment space is transforming rapidly. Major technology firms are actively integrating cryptocurrency infrastructure and exploring new payment protocols. For instance, Google recently launched an open-source AI payments protocol featuring built-in stablecoin support, a project developed in collaboration with a major cryptocurrency exchange. Meanwhile, industry executives like Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital predict widespread adoption of stablecoins by AI agents, which could eventually conduct routine purchases, pay for services, or process payroll on behalf of human users.
Industry observers note that regulatory developments in the European Union and the United States in 2025 have brought much-needed clarity and confidence to stablecoin issuers, encouraging both institutional and retail participation. According to projections by Keyrock, a prominent trading firm, global stablecoin transaction volumes could hit the trillion-dollar mark by 2030, fueled by institutional adoption, cross-border trade, and the expansive growth of machine-to-machine commerce.
Use Cases: AI Agents and Microtransactions
The most revolutionary aspect of NET Dollar may be the acceleration and expansion of use cases for AI-driven transactions. Autonomous agents, now empowered to operate without manual intervention, require efficient methods of sending and receiving payments in real time. NET Dollar—integrated into business-to-consumer, business-to-business, and peer-to-peer scenarios—could unlock a seamless flow of value among digital agents, humans, and service providers.
Imagine AI-powered travel assistants that can instantly compare flight options and pay for bookings, household robots that automatically replenish groceries, or subscription apps that implement true pay-per-use billing—charging only for each actual function performed. NET Dollar’s capacity for microtransactions enables such flexible and granular payment models, giving rise to innovative business approaches for apps, digital content, and even shared computational resources.
Implications for Developers and Content Creators
A pivotal promise of NET Dollar lies in what it offers to developers and content creators: streamlined monetization. Cloudflare’s infrastructure and standardized payment protocols will support direct, programmable financial flows from consumers or AI agents to those who build or contribute digital goods and services. This could mean real-time, automated compensation for everything from API calls and streaming content to plugin installations and online publishing.
The reduction of payment friction is set to empower developers globally, particularly those creating tools and platforms that don’t neatly fit into traditional subscription or advertising-based models. As AI agents become common intermediaries, the expectation is that digital creators will be able to “plug in” and start receiving NET Dollar micropayments for their work, without the costly intermediaries or geographic barriers associated with legacy payment systems.
Security, Transparency, and Regulatory Readiness
As a major internet infrastructure provider, Cloudflare brings a strong emphasis on security and compliance. NET Dollar’s transparent backing—fully collateralized by US dollars—aims to allay fears of under-collateralized tokens, a criticism occasionally leveled at some market incumbents. The architecture will also likely incorporate robust anti-fraud, anti-money laundering, and compliance features in line with regulated digital asset standards.
The evolving regulatory climate in key markets supports broader participation and innovation in the stablecoin sector. Cloudflare’s experience navigating global compliance as a cloud platform prime it to address financial and data protection regulations as it scales out NET Dollar.
Launch Timeline and Future Prospects
While Cloudflare is already shaping industry standards and has outlined the technical foundations for NET Dollar, it has yet to disclose a specific launch date. The company assures stakeholders that the stablecoin and related programmable payment ecosystem will be “made available soon.”
Industry analysts anticipate robust interest in NET Dollar due to Cloudflare’s established trust, wide-reaching infrastructure, and the convergent growth of AI, automation, and digital currencies. If successful, NET Dollar could trigger a broader transition from legacy payment systems toward a future where AI agents transact autonomously at scale, reshaping how value moves across the internet.
Conclusion
Cloudflare’s planned launch of NET Dollar marks a watershed moment in the evolution of digital payments. By creating a tailored stablecoin for AI-powered agents and microtransactions, the company aims to accelerate the shift toward programmatic, pay-per-use commerce, disrupt entrenched business models, and empower both developers and content creators through efficient, transparent, and global digital payments.
As the stablecoin sector approaches the $300 billion mark and regulatory clarity increases worldwide, Cloudflare’s strategic move positions it at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and the next generation of internet-enabled economic models. The unfolding months will reveal how NET Dollar contributes to the vision of a truly agentic web—where value and information move with the speed and flexibility the modern internet demands.
