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What is x402? How AI agents use it to pay

Live

Key date

x402 lets an agent pay for a web request on the spot, usually with a stablecoin, without opening a new account for that site.

Who backs it

Coinbase incubated x402. Coinbase says it is now an independent foundation under the Linux Foundation, with AWS among the founding members.

What it is

x402 revives the old web status code 402, which means payment required. A person or an agent asks for a page or an API. If the server wants to be paid, it answers with the price and instructions. The client sends a signed payment. A facilitator checks and settles it, and the server returns the content.

Coinbase's documentation says the usual starting payment is USDC, with support for more networks, and that the flow does not need an account, a session, or an API key for that request. It is aimed at paid APIs, digital content, and agents that buy access on their own.

Who it is for

A publisher or API owner uses it to charge agent traffic instead of blocking it. An agent developer uses it to pay for data or tools as the agent works. This is a different job from a retail checkout such as ACP or UCP. x402 is a payment for a web request, not a shopping cart at a department store.

Status

Coinbase documents x402 as a working protocol, so this tracker marks it live. On June 15, 2026 Coinbase and AWS said publishers already using CloudFront and WAF could turn on agent payments from their existing AWS settings. Coinbase's facilitator verifies and settles those payments.

The June 15 post says the protocol is payment-method agnostic and that USDC on Base is the natural starting point. It also says governance moved to a foundation under the Linux Foundation so no single company controls the standard.

On October 20, 2026 Mastercard said Agent Pay for Machines builds on x402. In that description, a paid digital service answers that payment is required, the agent signs a payment voucher inside an approved budget, and the provider checks the voucher before delivering the service. Mastercard said those steps happen off-chain and that vouchers can be redeemed later. That is one company's early-access product on top of x402. It does not change the June 15 statement that the protocol sits under a Linux Foundation foundation.

Note on this pageThis page dates the row to the AWS launch. It does not state an earlier public launch date, even though Coinbase describes x402 as something it started before that day. Mastercard's October 20, 2026 post describes its own early-access product, not a change in who runs x402.

Sources

Which players support it

A player is listed only when its tracker row names x402. Everyone else is not yet confirmed.

Tracker row: Coinbase x402

Recent related news

Questions people ask

What is x402? How AI agents use it to pay

x402 lets an agent pay for a web request on the spot, usually with a stablecoin, without opening a new account for that site.

What is x402?

x402 is an open way for a person or an AI agent to pay for a web page or an API. The server answers that payment is required, the client pays, and then the content comes back.

How does an agent pay with x402?

Coinbase's documentation says the usual starting payment is the USDC stablecoin. The request does not need a new account or API key. A facilitator checks the payment and settles it.

Is x402 a store checkout?

It pays for a web request, such as an API call or a piece of content. It is a different job from a retail cart standard such as ACP or UCP.

Who runs x402?

Coinbase incubated it. On June 15, 2026 Coinbase said x402 sits under a foundation at the Linux Foundation, with AWS among the founding members, and that publishers on CloudFront and WAF could turn it on.

Does Mastercard use x402?

Mastercard said on October 20, 2026 that Agent Pay for Machines builds on x402. It opened that product in early access after end-to-end pilots with Cloudflare, Ant International, AIsa, Base, BVNK, Coinbase, and Hype. A service can answer that payment is required, and the agent signs a payment voucher inside an approved budget.

What is x402? How AI agents use it to pay · Agent Shopping Tracker