{
  "dataset": "glossary",
  "record": {
    "id": "x402",
    "term": "x402",
    "category": "commerce",
    "short_def": "A protocol that uses the HTTP 402 'Payment Required' status so an agent can pay for a resource inline with a stablecoin micropayment.",
    "long_def": "Launched by Coinbase in May 2025. The server answers an unpaid request with 402 and machine-readable payment terms (amount, asset, network, recipient); the agent pays in a stablecoin such as USDC and retries with cryptographic proof of payment. On 23 September 2025 Coinbase and Cloudflare announced the x402 Foundation to steward the standard.",
    "see_also": [
      "agentic-commerce",
      "agent-identity"
    ],
    "etymology_origin": "Launched by Coinbase in May 2025; named after the long-dormant HTTP 402 'Payment Required' status code. Stewardship moved to the x402 Foundation (Coinbase + Cloudflare), announced 23 September 2025.",
    "related_to": [
      "agentic-commerce",
      "agent-identity"
    ],
    "contrast_with": "Unlike AP2, which is the authorization layer (cryptographic payment mandates), x402 is the settlement layer that actually moves the stablecoin — AP2 extends x402 rather than replacing it.",
    "example": "As of March 2026, x402 had processed over 119 million transactions on Base and 35 million on Solana, with roughly $600 million in annualized volume and zero protocol fees.",
    "source": "https://www.coinbase.com/developer-platform/discover/launches/x402",
    "status": "active",
    "why_it_matters": "x402 is the leading HTTP-native rail for an agent to pay for content or tools inline, making pay-per-call and pay-per-crawl monetization possible without legacy billing.",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X402"
    ],
    "bridge_entity": "protocols/payments/x402",
    "last_verified": "2026-06-15",
    "md_twin": "/glossary/x402.md"
  }
}