Coinbase-backed x402 payment standard enables AI agent transactions

The x402 protocol, created by Coinbase and now overseen by the Linux Foundation, is an open payment standard that lets AI agents automatically pay for goods and services using stablecoins such as USDC. The standard eliminates the need for traditional checkout steps, allowing instant on‑chain settlement without account or API‑key requirements.

More than 20 major organizations back x402, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Shopify, Anthropic, AWS and Cloudflare. These firms see the protocol as a way to handle the tiny, sub‑cent transactions that AI agents require for API calls or data access. In the past year, agentic payments processed over $73 million across 176 million transactions, with a median payment of $0.01‑$0.10. Everyday examples include AI assistants booking flights, reserving restaurants or purchasing digital services on a user’s behalf within pre‑set spending limits.