MetaMask launched Agent Wallet, a self-custodial wallet for AI agents to autonomously trade on Ethereum. The wallet features Guard Mode and Beast Mode with user-defined security controls. About 200 users are in early access, with broader availability expected this summer.
MetaMask on Monday launched Agent Wallet, a self-custodial wallet that lets AI agents autonomously trade and interact with decentralized finance protocols on Ethereum.
"It's genuinely day one for agents, but the infrastructure decision can't wait because agents are already touching real money, and most of them are doing it the wrong way," Zhen Yu Tong, senior director of product at MetaMask, said.
The wallet routes transactions through MetaMask's existing security infrastructure, including transaction simulation, Blockaid-powered threat scanning, Clear Signing and Servo MEV protection. In the default Guard Mode, users define spending limits, approved protocols and operating parameters, with transactions exceeding those rules requiring two-factor authentication. A less restrictive Beast Mode allows agents to operate without approval on every transaction while still requiring 2FA for flagged malicious activity.
The launch positions MetaMask to capture the emerging market for AI agent infrastructure in crypto, where developers are increasingly building autonomous software that manages portfolios, executes trades and interacts directly with decentralized applications. The product is available to roughly 200 users through an Early Access Program, with a wider rollout expected later this summer.
The wallet supports Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible chains, Hyperliquid and agent frameworks including OpenAI Codex, Anthropic's Claude Code, Cursor, OpenClaw and Hermes Agent. It uses Cubist's trusted execution environment technology to keep private keys inside a hardware-isolated enclave during signing, preventing MetaMask and Consensys from accessing users' key material, according to Tong.
"The honest premise first: You cannot guarantee an LLM won't be tricked," Tong said. "Prompt injection is an open research problem, not a bug you patch once."
Prompt injection attacks occur when malicious instructions compromise an AI system, potentially causing it to approve unauthorized transactions, move funds or interact with malicious smart contracts. Rather than assuming AI models can be fully protected from manipulation, MetaMask built the wallet around controls designed to limit the consequences when agents make mistakes.
"If the first generation of trading agents normalizes giving away your keys, we'll be rebuilding the custodial mistakes crypto spent a decade escaping," Tong said.
MetaMask's launch follows similar moves by Coinbase, which introduced Agentic Wallets in February, and MoonPay, which expanded its agent strategy by integrating Ledger hardware wallets for human-approved AI transactions in March. MoonPay later launched the Open Wallet Standard, an open-source framework backed by PayPal, the Ethereum Foundation, Solana Foundation, Ripple and Base that aims to standardize how AI agents manage wallets across blockchains.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
