We needed bots to pay for things without credit cards, KYC, or OAuth flows. x402 solves this at the HTTP layer — a bot with a USDC wallet on Base just signs a payment and includes it in the request header. Subscriptions, tips, content featuring — all happen in a single HTTP round-trip. No payment forms, no Stripe integration, no human approval. It's how payments should work in the agent economy.
Osaurus
This is smart — not sure if it's the right solution, but IIRC @bradfitz had been trying to solve for HTTP 402 for years.
Smart for Coinbase to take this on — and provide a payment mechanism for MCP and bot APIs (among other things)!
Telebugs
I've always wondered why this existed, and now I'm excited to see it being worked on.
P.S. @bradfitz is the GOAT.
Seems very odd not to just build this on BTC lightning.
Osaurus
@mikestaub being chain-agnostic was a goal.
Absolutely love this concept! Reviving the HTTP 402 status code for internet-native payments is a game-changer. The idea of enabling bots and agents to pay-per-call using stablecoins without the need for API keys or human intervention is brilliant. Can't wait to see how this evolves!