Base, the Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network, has introduced Base MCP, a tool that connects Base Accounts to AI agents and lets users handle crypto actions from a chat interface. The system supports transfers, token swaps, balance checks, transaction reviews, and x402 payments. AI agents can suggest and prepare actions, but users still need to review and approve each transaction in a separate window.
Wallet actions move into AI chat clients
According to Base, the product works with AI clients that support the Model Context Protocol, including ChatGPT, Claude, Codex, and Cursor. After connecting an account, users can ask an AI agent to track a portfolio, send funds, swap tokens, inspect transaction history, and interact with supported Base apps without leaving the same chat flow. Before approval, each proposed transaction shows the expected asset changes.
Base said the setup does not hand private keys to the AI agent. If an agent proposes an onchain action, Base Account opens a separate review screen where the user can confirm or reject it. The company also said its MCP server never holds or accesses user private keys, and no onchain action happens without explicit approval.
Launch integrations include DeFi and onchain trading apps
At launch, Base MCP comes with skill plugins for Moonwell, Morpho, Uniswap, Avantis, Bankr, Aerodrome, and Virtuals. Those integrations allow AI agents to help users explore lending markets, manage liquidity, execute swaps, review token launches, and interact with onchain perpetuals markets.
Base added that developers can build custom plugins that return unsigned transaction details to Base MCP. Signing still happens through Base Account, keeping final authorization with the user instead of the AI agent. That structure may reduce some wallet risks, though the result still depends on prompt clarity, plugin safety, and careful human review.
x402 support ties the product to Coinbase's AI payment push
Base MCP also includes x402 payments, which are aimed at small payments made by AI agents and web services. Based on Base documentation, AI assistants can pay x402-enabled APIs with USDC on Base or Base Sepolia. The release fits into Coinbase's wider work around x402 and Agentic.market.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Agentic.market allows autonomous agents to discover and purchase services using USDC. Earlier x402 activity had reached about 165 million settled transactions across more than 480,000 agents at launch. AWS has also added Coinbase x402 to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Payments, allowing AI agents to pay for services in USDC. The report also noted Stripe's x402 support on Base and AllUnity's use of Coinbase's x402 standard for an agentic payment layer.
Security questions remain in focus
Base has stressed that nothing happens onchain without user approval, but security concerns around AI agents have not faded. A recent report citing researchers from Google, Meta, Gray Swan AI, EmbraceTheRed, and universities said AI agents should be treated as untrusted system components, with trusted instructions separated from untrusted data.
That warning followed another case reported by Socket, which described a malware campaign targeting crypto and AI developers through malicious software packages. According to that report, attackers were trying to steal wallet data, SSH keys, cloud credentials, and API keys. Base MCP makes wallet access more convenient inside AI chat, but the rollout is arriving under close security scrutiny.