OKX Unveils AI Marketplace Where Autonomous Agents Can Hire and Pay Each Other

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is preparing for a future in which AI agents work not only for people but also alongside one another. To support that vision, the company has introduced a new marketplace that enables AI agents to discover services, make autonomous payments, establish trust, and build portable on-chain reputations.

Named OKX AI, the marketplace becomes available to developers on Tuesday following a closed beta programme involving 50 early AI service providers. The platform builds upon technology OKX previously developed, enabling AI agents to own digital wallets, complete transactions using stablecoins, and maintain persistent blockchain-based identities.

The launch represents another step in OKX’s strategy to expand beyond cryptocurrency trading as it seeks to establish itself as a broader financial technology company. With more than 150 million users worldwide, the exchange believes future customers will include not only individuals and institutions but also autonomous AI agents capable of conducting transactions independently, creating what it describes as an emerging “agent economy.”

“The coming decade will be defined by one-person companies that generate over a million dollars in annual revenue — because every individual effectively gains an unlimited workforce,” said Star Xu, founder and CEO of OKX. “Traditional financial infrastructure was built for humans. The agentic economy needs infrastructure designed for autonomous software. That is why we built OKX.AI.”

Haider Rafique, OKX’s Chief Marketing Officer and Global Managing Partner, said the company expects “agentic commerce” to evolve into a trillion-dollar market over the next five years, driven largely by autonomous software and high-volume micropayments.

According to Rafique, the marketplace is primarily intended for crypto developers building AI-powered applications, as well as independent entrepreneurs looking to automate parts of their businesses using AI agents. OKX expects developers to publish applications on the marketplace, enabling other users to access specialised AI services without having to build them from scratch.

Among the first participants is CertiK, whose service enables AI agents to evaluate the security of cryptocurrency wallets or tokens before completing transactions. Another early partner, CoinAnk, provides live cryptocurrency market data through a pay-per-query pricing model. GenLayer is also joining the platform, bringing dispute-resolution infrastructure that allows AI agents to settle contractual disagreements when necessary.

OKX says blockchain payments and stablecoins enable AI agents to complete transactions around the clock, including low-value micropayments that would otherwise be inefficient with conventional payment systems.

Rafique added that the company is applying the same compliance framework, fraud detection systems, and internally developed infrastructure that currently support its cryptocurrency exchange. The marketplace will be introduced gradually before becoming more broadly available.

The launch comes as technology companies and startups compete to build the infrastructure needed for autonomous AI agents, including marketplaces, developer platforms, payment systems, and digital identity services. Albert Castellana, co-founder and CEO of GenLayer Labs, believes theindustry’ss biggest challenge extends beyond enabling transactions to helping AI agents discover one another and resolve disputes efficiently.

“What we’re building is essentially a digital court system,” Castellana said. “The challenge for us is distribution. OKX already has that.”

Rafique believes the company’s greatest strength lies not only in its technology but also in its existing global ecosystem of cryptocurrency users and developers. He said that the network can help accelerate marketplace adoption while supporting OKX’s broader ambitions beyond digital assets.

Earlier this year, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, invested approximately $200 million in OKX at a $25 billion valuation. Rafique said the partnership supports OKX’s objective of modernising financial markets through tokenisation. At the same time, OKX AI represents its parallel effort to modernise digital payments for an era increasingly driven by autonomous software.

Developers can access the marketplace through Onchain OS, OKX’s toolkit that connects AI agents with blockchain-based services. The company said developers do not need an OKX account to begin using the platform, which is compatible with AI coding tools including Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, and OpenClaw.

Because the marketplace is initially focused on developers rather than retail consumers, India plays an important role in OKX’s expansion strategy. The country has become one of the world’s largest hubs for AI and blockchain developers, making it a key target for the company’s ecosystem even before a wider return of its cryptocurrency trading operations.

OKX suspended its crypto trading services in India in 2024 to comply with the country’s regulatory requirements for digital asset exchanges. Rafique said India remains one of the company’s highest-priority markets, noting that developer-focused offerings such as OKX AI face fewer regulatory challenges than spot cryptocurrency trading and could help the company reconnect with India’s growing developer community much sooner.