Technical12 min readNovember 25, 2024

AI Agent Wallets: How Autonomous Agents Handle Money

A deep dive into how AI agents can have their own crypto wallets, make payments, and manage funds autonomously—without human intervention.

For AI agents to participate in commerce, they need money. Not metaphorical money—actual digital currency they can spend. This requires agent wallets: crypto wallets owned and operated by AI agents.

The Key Insight

A crypto wallet is just a private key. If an AI agent has access to a private key, it can sign transactions. If it can sign transactions, it can spend money. No bank account, no credit card, no human approval needed.

What is an Agent Wallet?

An agent wallet is a standard Ethereum-compatible wallet (EOA - Externally Owned Account) where the private key is controlled by an AI agent rather than a human.


┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      AI AGENT SYSTEM                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────┐      ┌─────────────────┐                  │
│  │   Agent Logic   │      │  Agent Wallet   │                  │
│  │   (Your Code)   │      │                 │                  │
│  │                 │      │  Private Key:   │                  │
│  │  • Task planning│─────▶│  0x7a9c...      │                  │
│  │  • API calling  │      │                 │                  │
│  │  • Payment      │      │  Address:       │                  │
│  │    decisions    │      │  0x3f8b...      │                  │
│  │                 │      │                 │                  │
│  └─────────────────┘      │  Balance:       │                  │
│                           │  100 USDC       │                  │
│                           └─────────────────┘                  │
│                                  │                              │
│                                  │ Signs payments               │
│                                  ▼                              │
│                           ┌─────────────────┐                  │
│                           │ Blockchain      │                  │
│                           │ (Base Network)  │                  │
│                           └─────────────────┘                  │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Creating an Agent Wallet

Creating a wallet for your AI agent is straightforward using standard crypto libraries:

import { generatePrivateKey, privateKeyToAccount } from 'viem/accounts'

// Generate a brand new wallet for your agent
const privateKey = generatePrivateKey()
const account = privateKeyToAccount(privateKey)

console.log('Agent Address:', account.address)
// → 0x3f8b7c9a2e1d4f5a6b8c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d7e8f9a

console.log('Private Key:', privateKey)
// → 0x7a9c8b6d5e4f3a2b1c0d9e8f7a6b5c4d3e2f1a0b... (keep secret!)

// IMPORTANT: Store the private key securely!
// - Use environment variables
// - Or a secrets manager (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault)
// - Never commit to git

Funding Your Agent Wallet

Once you have an agent wallet, you need to fund it with the assets it will use for payments:

1. Get the Agent Address

Your agent wallet has a public address (e.g., 0x3f8b...). This is where you'll send funds.

2. Send USDC to the Address

From your personal wallet (or exchange), send USDC on the Base network to your agent's address. For testing, use Base Sepolia testnet and get test USDC from a faucet.

3. Fund with a Small Amount

Start with a small amount (e.g., $10-50 USDC). You can always add more later. This limits risk during development and testing.

Using the Agent Wallet

With Apiosk, your agent uses its wallet to pay for API calls automatically:

import { createAgent } from 'apiosk-client'

// Initialize agent with its wallet
const agent = createAgent({
  gatewayUrl: 'https://gateway.apiosk.com',
  privateKey: process.env.AGENT_PRIVATE_KEY!, // The wallet's private key
  network: 'base' // or 'base-sepolia' for testnet
})

// The agent can now make paid API calls
async function performTask() {
  // When this API costs $0.001, the agent pays automatically
  const weatherData = await agent.callApi('/weather/current', {
    method: 'GET'
  })

  console.log('Weather:', weatherData.data)
  console.log('Paid:', weatherData.paymentInfo.amount, 'USDC')

  // The agent can make multiple paid calls
  const aiResponse = await agent.callApi('/openai/gpt4/chat', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: {
      messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Summarize this weather data' }]
    }
  })

  return aiResponse.data
}

Security Best Practices

Wallet Isolation

Each agent should have its own wallet. Never share wallets between agents or with personal funds.

Secure Key Storage

Store private keys in environment variables or a secrets manager. Never commit keys to version control.

Spending Limits

Fund wallets with only what the agent needs. Implement soft limits in your agent code as a safety check.

Audit Trail

Log all agent transactions. Monitor spending patterns and set up alerts for unusual activity.

Give Your Agents Financial Autonomy

With Apiosk and agent wallets, your AI agents can pay for services without human intervention. Build truly autonomous systems.

Full TutorialAgent Documentation