Coinbase gives AI agents permission to trade and buy research

Coinbase has launched an agent that can connect to a user's main account or a separate sandbox and execute crypto trades through natural-language instructions. It can rebalance portfolios, follow an investment thesis, and currently trade spot markets and derivatives, with equities and prediction markets planned. Coinbase says future controls will include maximum trade size, allowed services, and spending limits. Through the x402 payment protocol, the agent can also pay for premium research APIs and on-demand compute without a conventional login or subscription. The product can work through ChatGPT or Claude using Coinbase's MCP server. This is a consequential agent deployment because mistakes can create immediate financial losses, making permissions, approvals, audit trails, and dispute handling central to adoption.

Key details: June 11, 2026, Spot and derivatives trading supported, Main-account or sandbox operation, Uses x402 for machine payments, Works through ChatGPT or Claude via MCP.

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