@0xdraco
🔵 Coinbase x402 revives the old HTTP status code 402 “Payment Required” to enable pay-per-use stablecoin payments (USDC on Base) directly in the web stack. Services, APIs, and even AI agents can now charge and pay programmatically no cards, no subscriptions.
How it works:
Client requests a resource → server responds with 402 + price instructions.
Client signs a USDC payment payload and retries with an X-PAYMENT header.
A facilitator verifies + settles onchain, unlocking the resource.
Why it matters:
This brings micropayments and machine-to-machine commerce to life. Agents can autonomously pay for compute, data, or API calls in real time. Think pay-per-inference, pay-for-data, on-demand services , all these frictionless.
Core pieces:
HTTP-native flow (402 + payment header)
Stablecoin settlement via USDC on Base
Facilitator service by Coinbase (no custom infra needed)
x402 turns a forgotten web primitive into a foundation for autonomous, real-time digital commerce.
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction