Bernstein: With the rise of smart proxy payments, Circle and Coinbase have become the best targets benefiting from the growth of stablecoins

According to TheBlock, analysts at research and brokerage firm Bernstein pointed out that Circle and Coinbase are the main tools for gaining growth exposure to stablecoins due to the partnership between the two companies around USDC and stablecoins 'emerging role in smart proxy payments could become an important driver of their future growth. Analysts led by GautamChhugani wrote in a report released Monday: "We believe that smart proxy payments provide upward options for stablecoins. This is not a factor that currently has a substantial impact on demand for stablecoins, but in the future smart agent economy, stablecoins may play a role." Analysts pointed out that so-called machine payments refer to transactions initiated, authorized and completed by software or autonomous devices, rather than operated by humans. Unlike automatic bill payment or subscription models, this type of payment is essentially programmatic and enables real-time decision-making, price negotiation, and instant settlement without human intervention. Bernstein believes that stablecoins have natural advantages in this environment because of their programmability, instant settlement capabilities, support for micropayments, and global accessibility. Payment logic such as custody, conditional payments, or revenue distribution can be embedded directly into stablecoins, allowing smart agents to complete transactions without having to connect to a bank or wait for confirmation. The report also pointed out that transactions can be settled in seconds, allowing AI agents to pay for computing power or data in real time; high-throughput blockchains and status channels make large-scale micro-transactions economically feasible; at the same time, stablecoins have cross-border attributes, eliminating the need to rely on SWIFT, agent banking systems or foreign exchange, further reducing transaction costs.