x402 is Everywhere — Coinbase's Revolutionary Open Payment Protocol

x402 continues to dominate conversations across the crypto space. Launched by Coinbase in early 2025, this open payment protocol establishes a blockchain-agnostic micro-payment system using the HTTP 402 status code as its conceptual foundation.

Designed for AI agents and autonomous payments, x402 enables instant stablecoin settlements (like USDC) without requiring account registrations, subscriptions, or complex signature flows. This novel transaction pattern bridges Web2 and Web3 ecosystems.

Imagine an on-chain AI receiving your instruction to purchase a MacBook: it configures specifications, finds the best price online, and instantly pays the merchant through x402.

No platform accounts needed, no dependency on subscriptions or credit cards. x402 directly facilitates payments on behalf of your agent.

We're entering an era where AI will transform every aspect of daily life.

Understanding the x402 Protocol

Simply put: x402 is Coinbase's payment protocol enabling AI agents to pay for services using USDC (or similar stablecoins) without accounts or subscriptions—completing transactions in seconds. Inspired by the nearly forgotten 402 Payment Required HTTP status code, Coinbase revived this concept to make payments as seamless as requesting a webpage—an Internet-native primitive.

For ordinary users, three key areas matter: payments, AI identity, and funds provenance/tracing.

Core Roles in x402

• Buyer: The AI agent
• Seller: The service provider
• Transaction channel: The x402 protocol

Technical References:

• EIP-3009 spec: https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-3009
• ICRC-1 standard: https://github.com/dfinity/ICRC-1
• x402 protocol docs: https://github.com/coinbase/x402
• ICP developer docs: https://internetcomputer.org/docs

Consider the meme project Ping. Traditionally, users needed accounts and KYC to access services or tokens (PING). With x402, direct purchases are possible:

• Buyer: A player
• Seller: The meme project team
• Channel: x402 protocol

Transactions resemble familiar on-chain transfers but use x402 instead of ERC-20 flows. The protocol primarily enables autonomous on-chain transactions by AI agents.

AI Agents + Crypto: The New Stablecoin Payment Flow

Key Characteristics

• Machine-to-machine payments: Autonomous commercial transactions by AI agents
• Cross-chain compatibility: Supports Base, Solana, Polygon, NEAR, and others
• Enterprise backing: Coinbase, Cloudflare, Visa, Google, AWS, and more
• Open standard: Driven by the x402 Foundation

Leading Ecosystem Projects Leveraging x402

PayAINetwork ($PAYAI)

• Market cap: ≈ $4.8M (fully diluted)
• Funding: $5M seed led by Borderless Capital (May 2025)
• Core: B2B/B2C agent marketplace with USDC settlements via x402
• Progress: v1 PayAI accelerator on Base; 42k+ microtransactions since July 2025

daydreamsagents ($DREAMS)

• Market cap: ≈ $7.6M
• Funding: Angel round with Solana Ventures and Archetype (Apr 2025)
• Core: TypeScript framework; DREAMS Router handles USDC micropayments via x402
• Progress: Router on Base mainnet; >1.3M monthly model calls

peaq ($PEAQ)

• Market cap: ≈ $50M (circulating), ≈ $324M fully diluted
• Funding: ~$43M total; $15M strategic round by Borderless & Generative Ventures
• Core: DePIN-focused L1 with native x402 support (added Aug 2025)
• Progress: M2M payments for 850k+ devices; two DePIN dApps migrated

GoKiteAI

• Funding: $18M Series A led by General Catalyst & PayPal Ventures
• Core: "Agent internet base layer" providing identity, permissions, and payment rails
• Token plan: Tokenomics published; TGE scheduled for Q1 2026

Additional Chain Projects

Questflow — Multi-Agent Economy Powered by x402

On-chain multi-agent orchestration where agents autonomously execute tasks and create value. Centered on $SANTA—a cluster of 13 autonomous agents published via @virtuals_io.

AurraCloud ($AURA) — x402 Agent Orchestration Layer

Builds deployable orchestration layers integrating MCP and crypto APIs. Agents autonomously pay for services using smart wallets.

mrdn_finance ($MRDN) — Flagship x402 Payment Coordinator

Incubated by UOS, featuring:

• 1% protocol treasury fee
• 2% decaying cashback rewards
• $MRDN per-transaction rewards
• Multi-chain support: Base, Optimism, Unichain

itsgloria_ai ($GLORIA) — x402 Data & API Hub

Enables trustless, pay-per-use data access and transactions—bridging data and agent economies.

The First x402 Meme — pingobserver

Early Participation in the x402 Ecosystem

Though still emerging, x402 combines payments + AI + on-chain settlement—aligning with future trends. Early adopters (developers, websites, AI agents) gain first-mover advantages. As chain-level infrastructure, x402 represents a fundamental tech shift rather than a speculative token project.

Capital recognizes this opportunity—x402 concepts are gaining traction across markets. On-chain remains a blue ocean, with exchanges and infrastructure players racing to establish foundations:

Newcomers should research thoroughly—for example, this exchange overview: 2026 Latest Top 10 Cryptocurrency Exchange Rankings 🔥【Must Save】. Pre-register where appropriate to position yourself in this evolving landscape.