The American Arbitration Association and Integra Ledger have launched the Legal Context Protocol for AI agent transactions.
AI agents are increasingly being used to negotiate services, execute procurement, and settle payments without direct human involvement. According to projections cited by the organisations, by 2028, 90% of B2B purchases could be intermediated by AI agents, channelling more than USD 15 trillion through automated transactions. The companies behind LCP state that when two agents complete a transaction today, the resulting agreement typically lacks verifiable terms, a defined legal jurisdiction, and a clear path to recourse, a gap the new protocol is designed to close.
David Fisher, chief executive officer of Integra Ledger and primary technology steward of LCP, said that while payment infrastructure for AI agents is being actively developed, the legal layer covering what was agreed and how disputes would be resolved has not kept pace, and that LCP is intended to provide this layer as an open standard added to existing payment rails. Bridget M. McCormack, president and chief executive officer of the AAA, noted that the organisation has supported commercial dispute resolution for a century and that the agentic economy requires similar capability delivered at machine speed, with clear jurisdictional authority and agreed recourse.
Positioning within the agentic commerce stack
LCP is designed to complement existing payment protocols, including x402, the Machine Payments Protocol, and the Trusted Agent Protocol, as well as agent coordination frameworks such as A2A and Verifiable Intent. Payment protocols establish what was paid, and identity frameworks establish who acted, while LCP defines the terms, governing law, and recourse mechanisms applicable to a transaction.
In addition, the protocol does not require specific infrastructure, intermediaries, or blockchain technology, and any organisation operating a web server can adopt it. LCP is published under the Apache 2.0 licence, with governance designed to transition to a neutral foundation over time.
Founding contributors to LCP include Google, IBM, Circle, Wayfair, Stellar Development Foundation, Ava Labs, UiPath, Cardano, Hedera, Crossmint, Pinata, Aptos Foundation, Baselayer, Trinsic, First Person Cooperative, Sei Labs, and Mysten Labs. Heath Tarbert, president of Circle, said that as AI agents take on a larger role in the global economy, trusted legal infrastructure becomes increasingly important. Enrique Colbert, general counsel at Wayfair, said that businesses processing large volumes of transactions dependent on enforceable terms will require a similar foundation for agent-driven transactions.
The specification, reference implementation, and integration examples for LCP are available now, and the organisations have invited payment protocol developers, cloud and platform providers, blockchain protocols, identity providers, financial institutions, and compliance teams to join the founding coalition.
