The x402 payment protocol saw a 10,780% jump in weekly transactions in October 2025 by letting AI agents pay in USDC stablecoins. It replaces API keys, subscriptions, manual setups and credit cards with a pay-per-request model, zero manual steps and near-zero fees. Major backers include Coinbase, Cloudflare, Google Cloud, PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst.

HTTP 402, a long-forgotten status code meant for facilitating seamless online payments, is being revitalized through modern technologies like stablecoins and blockchain. The original vision for HTTP 402 aimed to enable micropayments as a native feature of the web, avoiding reliance on advertising-based revenue models, which has been hindered by technical and economic challenges since the 1990s. New standards propose a pathway to integrate payments directly into the web protocol, potentially transforming the online economy.