x402 Protocol Lets Clients Pay APIs Directly via HTTP, No Accounts Needed

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x402 is an open payment protocol, initiated by Coinbase and supported by Cloudflare, that activates the long-dormant HTTP 402 status code to enable direct, per-call payments without user accounts or API keys. When a client requests a resource, the server responds with a price, the client pays in USDC on Base or Solana, and retries with proof of payment to receive the result. The protocol is designed to support AI agents, which cannot complete traditional signup flows, by allowing them to pay for only what they need using a funded wallet. A developer named _done is already using x402 to offer pay-per-call utility APIs — such as DNS lookups, OCR, and QR code generation — at one cent per call. Despite its promise, adoption remains limited, as most users lack crypto wallets and few AI agents are currently configured to make x402 payments.

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