KEY FACTS: Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based internet infrastructure giant, has announced plans to launch the NET Dollar (NET), a US dollar-pegged stablecoin designed to power AI-driven microtransactions, signaling a shift from traditional ad-based and bank-transfer models to a pay-per-use economy. Integrated with Cloudflare's vast network spanning over 330 cities, NET aims to enable instant, programmable payments for autonomous AI agents, facilitating tasks such as booking flights or paying content creators in real-time. Amid a booming $300 billion stablecoin market and supportive regulations like Europe’s MiCA and the US Genius Act, Cloudflare’s entry leverages its cybersecurity expertise to address risks while promising to reshape monetization for developers and creators.
Source: NET Dollar
Cloudflare Unveils NET Dollar Stablecoin to Power AI-Driven Microtransactions
Cloudflare, the San Francisco-based internet infrastructure giant, has revealed ambitious plans to launch the NET Dollar, a fully backed US dollar stablecoin tailored for the era of artificial intelligence. This announcement, made on a crisp Thursday in late September, signals Cloudflare's intent to redefine online payments by enabling seamless, instant transactions orchestrated by autonomous AI agents. As the stablecoin market surges toward a staggering $300 billion valuation amid favorable regulatory winds, Cloudflare's entry could accelerate the shift from traditional ad-driven and bank-transfer models to a future dominated by fractional, pay-per-use microtransactions.
NET Dollar will help power global, secure transactions at the speed of the Internet
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Founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn, Cloudflare has long been a cornerstone of the modern internet. The company operates a vast global network that spans more than 330 cities across 120 countries, delivering everything from content distribution and domain name system (DNS) management to robust distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection and developer tools for building scalable applications. With over 20 million internet properties relying on its services, Cloudflare processes trillions of requests monthly, making it an ideal platform to integrate blockchain technology and stablecoins. Yet, until now, the firm has largely stayed on the sidelines of cryptocurrency, focusing instead on enhancing web performance and security. That stance appears to be changing dramatically with the NET Dollar.
The NET Dollar (NET) is a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and fully backed by reserves held in traditional financial institutions. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins like NET are designed for stability, making them perfect for everyday transactions. What sets NET apart, however, is its deep integration with AI agents, autonomous software entities that can independently execute complex tasks without human intervention. Imagine an AI personal assistant that not only scouts for the best flight deals but instantly books and pays for them using NET, all in milliseconds. Or picture it snagging a limited-edition gadget the second it drops online, settling the payment programmatically before stock runs out.
Cloudflare emphasized in its announcement that personal agents will be able to take instant, programmatic actions like paying for the cheapest flight or ordering an item the moment it goes on sale. This is a practical response to the exploding capabilities of AI. As generative models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic grow more sophisticated, they are evolving from chatbots into proactive "agents" that handle real-world errands. But for these agents to thrive in a commercial ecosystem, they need frictionless payment rails, something traditional banks, with their delays and fees, simply cannot provide.
Cloudflare's NET Dollar addresses this by prioritizing three core features: global interoperability, real-time settlement, and programmable transactions. Interoperability ensures NET can flow seamlessly across blockchains and platforms, while real-time settlement eliminates the multi-day waits common in legacy finance. Programmable transactions, meanwhile, allow smart contracts to automate payments based on predefined conditions, such as an AI agent rewarding a content creator the instant their video garners a certain number of views. These capabilities could spawn entirely new business models, from developers charging micro-fees for API calls to AI companies compensating data providers on a per-use basis.
Matthew Prince, Cloudflare's co-founder and CEO, articulated this transformative potential in a statement, underscoring a broader industry pivot away from the intrusive, privacy-eroding world of targeted advertising toward a more equitable, granular economy where value is exchanged in real time, down to the cent. In his words:
"For decades, the business model of the internet ran on ad platforms and bank transfers,... The internet’s next business model will be powered by pay-per-use, fractional payments, and microtransactions."
NET Dollar
The stablecoin sector is booming, buoyed by regulatory clarity that's finally materializing after years of uncertainty. In 2025, landmark legislation in both Europe—via the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework—and the United States, including the Genius Act, has legitimized stablecoins as viable payment tools. This has supercharged adoption, with the total market capitalization hovering near $300 billion, according to data from DeFiLlama. Dominant players like Tether's USDT, with a $173 billion market cap, and Circle's USDC at $73.7 billion, continue to lead the pack, but innovation is rife.
Tether, for instance, recently launched USAT, a compliant dollar-backed stablecoin aimed squarely at the US market to navigate the Genius Act's stringent requirements. Across Asia, stablecoins are tailoring to local needs: BDACS introduced KRW1, pegged to the South Korean won, while AnchorX's AxCNH links to the offshore Chinese yuan, facilitating cross-border trade under China's Belt and Road Initiative. Even decentralized exchanges are getting in on the action, with Hyperliquid debuting USDH, another US dollar-pegged token, just weeks ago. In Japan and India, ongoing discussions around stablecoin regulations and crypto tax reforms signal further global expansion, as highlighted in Cointelegraph's recent Asia Express report.
Tech behemoths are also racing to fuse AI with crypto. Google, in a collaboration with Coinbase, unveiled an open-source AI payments protocol earlier this year that natively supports stablecoins, enabling developers to build agentic systems with embedded financial logic. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, a vocal crypto advocate, has gone as far as predicting that AI agents will soon eclipse humans as the primary users of stablecoins. "AI agents are going to be the biggest users of stablecoins," Novogratz declared in a recent interview. His forecast aligns with Cloudflare's timeline, as AI adoption accelerates and programmable money becomes table stakes.
Though critics point to risks like reserve transparency and the potential for AI-driven transactions to amplify fraud if not properly secured, Cloudflare, with its expertise in cybersecurity, is well-positioned to mitigate these, leveraging its DDoS defenses and encryption tools to safeguard NET transactions. Still, the company has remained tight-lipped on specifics like the launch date, though a teaser page at netdollar.cloudflare.com promises the stablecoin "will be made available soon."
For creators and developers, NET Dollar opens doors to unprecedented monetization. In an ad-fatigued internet, fractional payments could mean artists earning royalties per stream or view, without intermediaries skimming hefty cuts. Developers might deploy apps that charge users pennies for premium features, fostering innovation in niche tools. AI firms, too, stand to benefit.
On the consumer side, the impact could be profoundly convenient. No more fumbling with credit cards for impulse buys or waiting days for cross-border remittances. Instead, AI agents handle the minutiae, using NET to execute payments as effortlessly as sending an email. This vision echoes ongoing debates in payments innovation, such as the looming $100 billion showdown between stablecoins and credit cards in the US, where blockchain's speed and cost advantages could upend Visa and Mastercard's dominance.
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AI agents need to be able to transact with external AI agents. That requires a stable measure of account.
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