Travala launches AI travel protocol on Base with gasless USDC

Travala announced the launch of Travala Travel MCP, an agentic AI travel protocol that runs on the Base Layer 2 blockchain. The system lets autonomous software agents search for hotels, reserve rooms and settle payments. Payments use gasless USDC through the x402 open payments standard, with settlement in seconds and transaction costs of about $0.01 per booking. Agents handle the booking flow while final authorization remains with the user’s secure wallet.

The protocol is built to allow APIs, applications and AI agents to complete payments without manual checkout steps. Travala described the payment flow as instant stablecoin transfers over the internet using x402, enabling near‑real‑time settlement and low fees on Base.

Technically, the protocol implements ERC-7715 session keys so agents can machine-sign payment requests while the final signing authority stays isolated in the user’s wallet environment. It also uses ERC-8004 to create a machine-verifiable trust layer for tracking agent and merchant performance and for auditability of requests and outcomes.

Travala demonstrated the protocol with an AI travel concierge running in Claude that plans and executes trips within a single chat thread. The concierge maintains conversational context across searches, bookings and cancellations, keeps the session active through property selection and reservation steps, and pauses only when the user must give final approval in their wallet.

Planned updates will extend the protocol to additional travel verticals, including flights. Travala will continue to use its AVA token as the native asset in its loyalty program while supporting stablecoin payments through x402. To encourage developer uptake, the company is offering a 10% rebate in cbBTC to developers who build and integrate AI agents with the protocol.

Founded in 2017 and based in Singapore, Travala is backed by Binance. The platform lists more than 2.2 million properties across 230 countries and accepts over 100 cryptocurrencies alongside traditional payment methods.