Everything You Need to Know about x402: The 30-Year-Old HTTP Code Built for the AI Economy

Summary

Erik Reppel, Head of Engineering at Coinbase Developer Platform, presents x402, an open standard for internet-native payments using stablecoins and blockchains, designed for AI agents. He argues that the current ad-based internet economy breaks with AI agents because agents don't click ads, and x402 enables micropayments via the HTTP 402 status code. He also discusses the definition of agents, the importance of open standards, and describes Coinbase's role in the agentic commerce stack.

• The internet was designed for humans, not AI agents, and its ad-based economy is threatened.
• x402 is an open standard using the HTTP 402 status code for internet-native payments.
• It allows agents to make micropayments costing less than a cent using stablecoins.
• Major companies like Visa, Stripe, Cloudflare, and Microsoft support the x402 foundation.
• Coinbase provides a full stack for agentic commerce including USDC, Base, and wallets.
• The agentic commerce market is estimated at $3-5 trillion in four years.
• Open standards enable competition, similar to how the open web beat AOL.