Multi-agent payment protocol from Circle. Agents negotiate terms, discover counterparties, and settle autonomously.
"Bank payment initiation screen — the originating instruction point where a party establishes intent and identity before instructing a value transfer."
The initiating agent holds a Coinbase Smart Wallet or AgentKit-provisioned wallet on Base with a resolvable DID (did:web, did:key, or did:pkh:eip155:8453). L4 Account and L5 Application are lit — both above the enforcement line, policy-enforced. The agent's identity credential (KYA checkpoint KYA-1) must resolve before the AP2 session opens. Builder: the wallet is initialized via Coinbase CDP SDK with session keys scoped to the payment amount. Compliance officer: the agent's principal is identifiable via the delegation chain — GENIUS §6 AML/BSA obligations attach to the principal, not the agent itself. Where the principal is a US entity, the agent inherits BSA program requirements at this point.
"Multi-party RFQ negotiation in FX or securities trading — agents exchange quotes, terms, and compliance metadata before agreeing to execute."
The compliance center of gravity for the AP2 path. Circle's AP2 protocol handles counterparty discovery, term negotiation, and mutual compliance verification in a single off-chain handshake before any value moves. Both agents present credentials — the initiator's DID document and the counterparty's DID document are cross-verified. Chainalysis sanctions screening fires against both addresses via the OFAC oracle at 0x40C5...8fb. If the transfer exceeds $3,000 (US) or €1,000 (EU), Travel Rule data is packaged in IVMS101 format and transmitted via Notabene. L3+L4 lit: the negotiation straddles the enforcement line — counterparty discovery happens at L4 (policy), but the sanctions gate and credential verification execute at L3 (code). Builder: the AP2 SDK handles the handshake; your agent receives a NegotiationResult with compliance attestations attached. Compliance officer: this step satisfies GENIUS §6 (AML/BSA) and §8 (foreign issuer screening if the counterparty agent operates from a non-US jurisdiction). Honesty marker: AP2 is pre-launch — the protocol spec is public but no production deployment exists as of April 2026.
"The execution leg of a negotiated trade — terms agreed in negotiation, now the payment fires atomically with conditions enforced."
USDC transfers from initiating agent to counterparty agent on Base. The AP2 settlement contract enforces the negotiated terms — amount, asset, deadline — atomically in a single transaction. L2 Consensus and L3 Execution are lit: the full stack below the enforcement line processes the transfer. The settlement is final on Base block confirmation (~2 seconds). Builder: the AP2 SDK calls settlePayment(sessionId) which executes the ERC-20 transfer with the negotiation hash as calldata. Compliance officer: Travel Rule data transmitted in Step 2 is now anchored to the settlement transaction hash — the IVMS101 record and the on-chain transfer are cryptographically linked. GENIUS §4 reserve-backing obligations apply to the USDC in transit: Circle must maintain 1:1 reserves in USD or short-term Treasuries for every USDC token, including those moving through AP2 settlement.
"Beneficiary confirmation of receipt — the counterparty acknowledges settlement and the transaction lifecycle completes."
Counterparty agent confirms receipt and the AP2 session closes with bilateral confirmation. L4 Account and L5 Application are lit on the receiving side — the same silhouette as Step 1, mirroring the symmetry of agent-to-agent commerce. The session produces a signed receipt (W3C Verifiable Credential with ACKReceipt type) binding both DIDs, the amount, and the settlement transaction hash. Builder: the receipt is returned in the AP2 session close callback; store it for audit trail. Compliance officer: recordkeeping obligations under GENIUS §6 and §4(c) attach here — the receipt satisfies the 'books and records' requirement. Monthly attestation obligations (§4(b)) roll up from individual receipts to the issuer level. The receipt is independently verifiable by any party without Circle infrastructure.
Resolved 4 steps across 1 chain(s). 0 threshold(s) triggered. Frameworks: Common Reporting Standard / FATCA.
Coverage notes: 5 disclosed gap(s).
Evaluate agent capability envelopes: per-transaction limits, daily limits, permitted assets, temporal bounds, and delegation depth.
Interactive tree navigator for multi-level agent delegation chains — trace the principal → agent trust path that GENIUS §6 requires for AML/BSA attribution.
Structural comparison of Circle AP2 and OpenAI/Stripe ACP across the 8 STP stages — where the protocols converge at Transport and diverge at Identity.