A payment-enabled web request
The x402 protocol adds a payment request to an HTTP interaction so a user or software agent can pay before receiving a resource.
The request can specify the token, amount, wallet destination and network, allowing settlement without a traditional card or subscription flow.
Why agents need it
AI agents can call APIs, access data and purchase services, but traditional payment systems often require a human account holder.
Stablecoin micropayments let an agent pay per request while keeping the transaction programmable and machine-readable.
Use cases
Possible applications include pay-per-call APIs, metered content, compute access, data feeds and machine-to-machine marketplaces.
The same mechanism can also support human users who prefer one-time payments over account creation or recurring subscriptions.
Open questions
Adoption depends on wallet security, identity, refunds, network fees, fraud controls and merchant integration.
A web-native payment standard is useful only when developers can implement it reliably and users understand what they are authorizing.