MoonPay has introduced the Open Wallet Standard, or OWS, as an open-source framework designed to standardize how AI agents store funds and sign blockchain transactions. The project is positioned as a common wallet layer for autonomous software, built to reduce fragmentation in key management and transaction execution across chains.
The company described OWS as an MIT-licensed specification built around a local, policy-gated architecture. Its central promise is that agents can operate with a unified signing interface and a single seed across multiple networks without exposing private keys to the agent itself or to the language model environment.
A Wallet Layer Built Around Key Isolation
MoonPay says OWS is designed as a local-first wallet stack with security controls aimed at keeping key material outside an agent’s runtime context. Private keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and are only decrypted inside a protected memory environment for the narrow purpose of generating a signature.
The company also says decrypted key material is not left available after use. According to the release, the wallet wipes the key from memory immediately after signing, which is meant to limit the window in which sensitive material can be accessed or leaked.
Another core element of the design is the policy engine that runs before signing takes place. Operators can define spending caps, contract or chain allowlists, and time-based authorizations so that the wallet enforces transaction rules before any key material is touched.
That model changes who stays in control of financial actions. Rather than letting the agent decide freely, OWS places approval logic with the operator and creates a clearer checkpoint for every transaction request.
A Modular Standard for Agent Payments
MoonPay structured OWS as a modular system rather than a single rigid package. The specification is divided into seven sub-specifications covering storage, signing, policy controls, agent access, key isolation, wallet lifecycle and supported chains.
That modular approach is meant to make adoption more flexible. Developers can implement only the parts they need, while third parties are encouraged to build compatible plugins, compliance layers and chain adapters around the same framework.
MoonPay also made clear that OWS is not being presented as a replacement for existing payment protocols. Instead, the company says the standard is intended to work underneath systems such as Coinbase’s x402, Google’s Agent Payments Protocol and Stripe and Tempo’s Machine Payments Protocol.
That positioning matters because it broadens the possible reach of the standard. If those kinds of payment rails continue to develop, OWS could serve as the wallet and signing layer that allows agents to interact with them using a more consistent security model.
Broad Ecosystem Support, but Adoption Still Has to Be Proved
MoonPay’s release named a long list of backers across payments, exchanges and blockchain ecosystems. The companies and organizations cited include PayPal, OKX, Ripple, Tron, TON Foundation, Solana Foundation, Ethereum Foundation, Base, Polygon, Sui, Filecoin Foundation, LayerZero, Arbitrum and Circle.
The company also emphasized broad network compatibility. According to the documentation, OWS supports EVM-compatible chains such as Ethereum, Base, Polygon and Arbitrum, while also extending to Solana, Bitcoin, Cosmos, Tron, TON, Spark, Filecoin and XRP Ledger.
MoonPay has already made the project available through standard developer channels. The specification is published on GitHub and distributed through npm and PyPI, which suggests the company wants adoption to happen through direct implementation rather than closed commercial licensing.
The bigger question now is whether OWS becomes a real standard or remains an early framework with limited use. Its long-term credibility will depend on integration by agent platforms, independent review of its key-isolation claims and whether live deployments prove that the model can support secure autonomous payments at scale.