Imagine an AI agent that can not only think and act but also pay for services on its own. Recent advancements in payments technology are making this possible. The HTTP status code 402 Payment Required has sat unused for decades – until now. Coinbase’s new x402 protocol revives HTTP 402 to enable onchain payments within standard web requests.
Circle has integrated its Developer-Controlled Wallets with the x402 protocol, allowing AI agents to autonomously pay for API access using USDC, according to coinspeaker.com.
Circle Internet Financial has unveiled a new integration that allows artificial intelligence agents to pay for online services autonomously. The development, announced on Sept. 12, combines the firm’s wallet infrastructure with a new payment protocol to facilitate automated transactions using USD Coin.
According to the company blog post, the system is built on Coinbase’s x402 protocol, an open standard that reactivates the long-dormant HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code. This technology enables web services to request an on-chain payment before fulfilling a data request, opening up new possibilities for API monetization.
The new model allows an AI agent to complete a transaction without any human intervention. For example, an agent needing a wallet risk report from a paywalled API can automatically pay the small fee in USDC to receive the data, streamlining the entire process into one programmatic flow.
This integration paves the way for new pay-per-use business models for developers and online platforms. Instead of relying on traditional subscriptions, services can now charge small amounts for individual API calls, making microtransactions a more viable option for monetizing digital resources.
More detaile here: Autonomous Payments using Circle Wallets, USDC, and x402
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