CryptoSlate
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14:25 Dec 18, 2025
An API that charges for queries has always been awkward. Subscription tiers and monthly billing break down when autonomous agents make thousands of microtransactions per hour across new services. x402 is Coinbase's bet that the missing piece is a payment primitive wired directly into HTTP. The mechanism revives HTTP status code 402 “Payment Required.” When […] The post What is x402? The HTTP-402 payments standard powering AI agents, explained appeared first on CryptoSlate.