MetaMask has launched Agent Wallet, a self-custodial wallet built specifically for AI agents to execute trades and other DeFi interactions onchain without ever taking custody of a user's private keys. The product lets users set spend limits, allowlist specific protocols, and choose between two operating modes, Guard Mode or Beast Mode, that determine how much autonomy an agent gets before a transaction requires human sign-off.
Under Guard Mode, the default setting, any transaction that falls outside a user's pre-defined spending limits, approved protocols, or allowlisted addresses triggers two-factor authentication before it can proceed. The wallet also ships with built-in threat scanning and MEV protection, and MetaMask says it works without requiring a native gas token, removing one of the more common friction points for automated onchain activity.
Built for the Major AI Coding Frameworks
Agent Wallet supports full DeFi access from a single wallet, including swaps, perpetuals, prediction markets and liquidity provision across EVM chains and Hyperliquid. At launch, the product connects through a command-line interface and integrates with major agent frameworks including OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, Nous Research's Hermes Agent and Cursor, positioning it as a developer-first tool ahead of a planned full user interface.
The launch adds MetaMask to a small but growing list of wallet providers racing to give autonomous agents a safe way to hold and move funds, a category that has expanded quickly as more trading and yield strategies get automated. The security model mirrors concerns raised elsewhere in crypto custody, including recent research into how attackers have systematically targeted exchange and wallet infrastructure, underscoring why threat scanning and spend limits matter as more capital moves through non-human hands.
Related: Researcher Infiltrated North Korea's Hackers, Found Coinbase and Uniswap Among 1,640 Victims
Guardrails Over Full Autonomy
MetaMask's decision to default to Guard Mode rather than full autonomy reflects a broader industry caution around letting AI agents move funds without a human checkpoint. Beast Mode, the higher-autonomy setting, is available for users willing to trade oversight for speed, but the two-factor fallback in Guard Mode gives most users a way to experiment with agent-driven trading without handing over unconditional control of their wallet.
