19th February, 2026 – In a major boost for creators and the agent economy, Contra, the commission-free freelance marketplace, launched Contra Payments, a system built for AI agent purchases. As of February 18, 2026, millions of AI agents browsing the platform can now directly buy digital products, prompt packs, templates, workflows, and full projects without human friction.
The launch shifts the narrative from AI replacing creatives to AI paying them. Creators keep nearly all earnings with payouts in fiat or USDC via Coinbase, marking one of the first mainstream moves toward agent-native commerce and accelerating on-chain payment adoption.
High Signal Summary For A Quick Glance
- Peter Thiel’s exit from a 7.5% stake signals declining confidence in ETHZilla’s treasury-driven model.
- The company’s 97% stock collapse reflects ETH exposure, treasury misalignment, and broader market weakness.
- Pivot toward tokenized jet engines is viewed as a high-risk diversification attempt.
- Highlights structural risks in corporate crypto treasury strategies lacking hedging or revenue diversification.
- ETHZilla shareholders: Face continued stock volatility, dilution risk, and potential capital losses.
- Ethereum holders: Negative treasury outcomes reinforce bearish sentiment around corporate ETH exposure.
- Founders Fund investors: May realize losses or reduced upside after exiting a volatile treasury-backed play.
- Crypto treasury firms: Face increased scrutiny and pressure to diversify and implement risk management.
Background and Market Context Behind Contra Payments Launch
Contra is a commission-free freelance marketplace founded in 2021. It connects independent creatives, designers, developers, writers, and other professionals with clients. More than 1.2 million creatives have earned over $200 million on the platform. Contra takes no commission, only transparent processing and payout fees. Previously, the platform used a flat $29 fee, which was not ideal for small invoices or digital products.
On February 18, 2026, Contra launched Contra Payments. This comes as autonomous AI agents are rapidly rising, able to discover gigs, review portfolios, and make purchases independently. Millions of these agents were already active on Contra, prompting the company to build a payments system for agent buyers. The move follows a broader industry trend, including Google’s Agent Payments Protocol in 2025, which boosted AI-driven transactions and agent-based digital economies.
Key milestones in Contra’s evolution into an AI-native payments platform
Contra marketplace launches
Contra is founded as the first fully commission-free freelance marketplace, enabling creatives and independents to monetize without platform cuts.
Commission-free payments introduced
Contra launches its initial payments infrastructure powered by Stripe and raises $30 million in Series B funding to scale its ecosystem.
Invoices and escrow system added
The platform expands to include full project management, escrow services, and invoicing with a flat $29 contract fee.
AI agents begin interacting with creators
Millions of autonomous AI agents start browsing creator profiles, portfolios, and digital products across the Contra ecosystem.
Contra Payments launches
Contra releases a dedicated payments layer designed for AI agents, enabling instant discovery, evaluation, and autonomous purchasing of digital services.
How Contra Payments Actually Works
Creators log into their Contra dashboard and choose what to sell. They can create a one-time invoice, a shareable payment link, a digital product page, or a full project with milestones and escrow. Digital products include prompt packs, templates, and workflows.
The system generates clean checkout pages optimized for humans and AI agents. Files or access are delivered instantly after payment.
AI agents can complete the entire process without human intervention. They browse, evaluate, click the payment link, use guest checkout, and receive the product immediately via download or email.
Settlement for digital items happens in seconds. Creators can withdraw to Coinbase (USDC at 2% fee), bank, or PayPal, keeping nearly all their earnings.
What Readers Should Watch Next
- Contra’s first agent-sales numbers – Expect them to drop weekly or monthly transaction volume and revenue from AI agents within the next 7–14 days. This will be the first real-world proof of agent spending power at scale.
- Competitor copycat moves – Watch Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal closely. If any of them announces “AI-agent checkout” or agent-native payments in the next 30 days, it confirms this is becoming table-stakes for the entire freelance industry.
- Crypto & stablecoin integrations – Keep an eye on whether Contra expands beyond Coinbase USDC to direct on-chain payments (Solana, Base, Ethereum) or opens an API for agent wallets. Any announcement here would be a massive catalyst for agent-economy tokens.
- Major AI agent frameworks adding Contra support – Look for quick integrations from CrewAI, AutoGPT, LangGraph, Devin-style agents, or new players. The first framework to ship native “Buy on Contra” tools will likely see a surge in usage and could move related AI/crypto narratives hard.
