t54 Labs Raises $5M to Build Trust Layer for the Autonomous Economy

As AI agents evolve from copilots to autonomous economic actors, moving from financial advice to execution across payments, treasury management, and commerce, a critical infrastructure gap has emerged. There's no standardized way to verify an agent's identity, assess its risk, or ensure accountability when transactions fail. t54 is building the trust layer that makes a secure agent economy possible.

A recent YouGov study found that 42% of US consumers would allow an AI agent to purchase on their behalf if it meant ensuring the lowest price, underscoring the case for all payment providers to embrace AI-powered commerce. However, recent research from Keyfactor highlighted low trust in AI agents without guardrails, with 86% of cybersecurity professionals stating that autonomous systems and AI agents should have unique, dynamic digital identities.

t54's platform addresses trust across four pillars:

• ·Identity & Verification: A verified identity layer covering developer verification, model provenance, human-agent binding, and intent attestation—ensuring businesses can delegate to agents while maintaining compliance and auditability.
• ·Risk & Fraud: A real-time risk engine that evaluates transactions using agent-native signals including behavioral patterns, code audits, mandates, and device context to detect anomalies and prevent manipulation.
• ·Credit: Underwrites agent-native credit lines using verified identity, risk scores, real-time behavioral signals, and transaction history, bringing liquidity into the agent economy.
• ·Platform: Unified infrastructure that integrates identity, risk controls, and settlement into one operational layer, enabling businesses to manage autonomous agents without adding operational overhead.

The funding will be used to expand t54's engineering team, accelerate product development, and scale partnerships with institutions embracing autonomous operations.