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Developer builds signup-free API where crypto micropayment serves as authentication

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A developer built an Australian company lookup API that eliminates the traditional signup process entirely, using the long-dormant HTTP 402 Payment Required status code as its core mechanism. The API queries the ASIC register of over 4 million companies and charges one US cent per call in USDC on the Base blockchain, with no account, API key, or dashboard required. When a client makes a request without payment, the server returns a machine-readable bill; the client then signs a cryptographic payment authorisation and resubmits the request to receive the data. The approach was motivated by the inability of AI agents to complete conventional API onboarding flows, which require human interaction at a browser to obtain credentials. The developer also engineered dual-version compatibility in the payment challenge response, ensuring both x402 v1 and v2 clients can each read a schema they accept without either receiving an invalid document.

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