Coinbase’s x402 protocol, which enables AI agents to transact autonomously over the internet, has seen a 10,000% rise in transaction activity over a month.
An online payments protocol introduced by Coinbase in May that enables AI agents to transact in stablecoins over the internet has seen more than a 10,000% increase in transaction activity over a last month.
At the time, Coinbase said x402 fixes “the internet’s first mistake” by resurrecting the Internet Communication Protocol’s Hypertext Transfer Protocol 402 — or HTTP 402 — to create a seamless payment system native to the internet.
It lets AI — and humans — pay directly while using a website or app: they request something, receive a HTTP 402 “Payment Required” prompt, and then send a signed stablecoin payment, which x402 then verifies automatically. No credit cards required.