TLDR

• The web has relied on ads because small payments weren’t feasible.
• x402 revives the forgotten HTTP code “402 Payment Required” using stablecoins for frictionless microtransactions.
• It enables direct payments between users, websites, and AI agents — no banks or middlemen.
• This could replace ads and subscriptions with fair, instant payments for every piece of content or API call.
• Early beneficiaries may include Coinbase ($COIN) and Solana ($SOL) as key infrastructure players; EigenLayer ($EIGEN) could play a supporting role in securing x402 transactions.

Disclaimer: This is not financial or investment advice. You are responsible for any capital-related decisions you make, and only you are accountable for the results.

---

The problem with the Web

For almost thirty years, the internet has been powered by advertising. When we read news, watch videos, or use apps online, we rarely pay for them directly. Instead, we pay with our attention. Companies collect our data, show us ads, and that money keeps websites running. It’s the trade that made the modern internet possible:

• free access for users
• ad revenue for publishers, and
• profits for advertisers.

But this system has always come with a price: constant tracking, cluttered websites, and content designed more to grab attention than to inform or help

The reason this happened is simple. There was never an easy way to make small payments online. Traditional payment systems like Visa and Mastercard charge a few percent plus a flat fee for each transaction. That might not matter when buying a $50 item, but it completely breaks down if you want to pay a few cents for an article or a single API request. Sending two cents and paying thirty cents in fees makes no sense. So instead of a web powered by tiny, direct payments, we ended up with a web funded by ads.

So, websites had three options:

• Put up paywalls and charge subscriptions.
• Run ads and give content away for free.
• Accept that small payments just weren’t practical.

Almost everyone chose the second option, and that shaped the modern web. But now, a new tech is trying to change that. It’s called x402, and it brings back an old concept that’s been part of the web since the beginning.

Huge amount of ads on websites

When the internet’s first browsers were built in the 1990s, developers included an error code called “402 — Payment Required.” The idea was that one day, websites might ask for payment before delivering content. But the technology to make that happen never arrived. x402 revives that forgotten code, this time using digital currencies and blockchain technology to make instant, tiny payments possible.

What is x402?

x402 is an open standard that brings payments back to the web itself. It builds on an old, unused part of the HTTP protocol, the 402 status code, which literally means “Payment Required.”

When you visit a website today, your browser sends a request like:

The server then replies with the content (if it’s free) or an error (if it’s restricted).

With x402, a website can instead reply: 402 Payment Required

and include a note saying how much the content costs and how to pay, usually in stablecoins like USDC, sent over a blockchain such as Solana or Base

Your wallet (or your AI agent’s wallet) can then instantly send that payment. Once the site detects it, it sends back the content right away.

It’s a full payment flow built directly into the language of the web.

How It Works — Step by Step

• You ask for something — a web page, a data point, or an API response.
• The server says “Payment Required” — and gives you the cost and payment details.
• You or the agent pays instantly — usually with a small amount of stablecoin.
• You get what you paid for — instantly, no waiting, no middleman.

All of this can happen in a second or two.

Why is it a big deal?

The technology behind x402 matters because it finally makes micropayments practical. Stablecoins like USDC hold their value and don’t swing like regular crypto assets. Blockchains such as Solana and Base can process thousands of transactions per second at a cost so small it barely registers. That combination makes it possible to send a payment worth a fraction of a cent to anyone, anywhere, almost instantly. What was once impossible with banks and card networks becomes routine.

There’s also a bigger shift happening at the same time. The next generation of internet users won’t only be humans but also AI agents. More and more interactions are happening between AI agents and APIs — not just between people and websites. For example:

• An AI assistant might read hundreds of news articles to summarise the topic.
• A research tool might call data APIs thousands of times to find insights.

These agents don’t watch ads or make emotional decisions. The advertising model doesn’t work for them. But they can make payments automatically. An agent could pay a few cents to access an API, download a dataset, or retrieve information, all using standards like x402. In a world full of digital agents scraping data from the Internet (Hello ChatGPT), direct micro-payments become the natural way to exchange value.

x402 component stack

If this vision succeeds, the internet could move away from its dependence on surveillance and attention. Websites would earn money directly from their visitors instead of advertisers. They wouldn’t need to track users across the web or chase clicks. They could focus on creating good content, priced fairly and delivered instantly. For users, that means a cleaner and more private web. For creators and developers, it means new ways to earn. And for AI systems, it means a clear economic framework to access the information they need responsibly.

This makes the internet more sustainable, more private, and more aligned with real value.

Cryptonary’s take

x402 is still very new. It’s an open standard, meaning anyone can build on it. The first adopters will likely be websites, API providers, and developers experimenting with new pricing models.

If it succeeds, it could become the missing economic layer the web has always needed, one that lets anyone pay or get paid instantly, for anything, without needing a bank or a middleman.

The web might become a place where every article, line of code, or data point can be accessed fairly, without ads, subscriptions, or friction — one tiny micro-payment at a time.

In crypto, of course, the goal is to make money and be early on the trend. Right now, we don’t see a clear winner in this category that could deliver outsized returns. However, there are a few strong proxies for this narrative.

The first is Coinbase’s $COIN stock, which trades on public markets. As an innovator and early backer of this technology, $COIN serves as a solid proxy if x402 gains traction, especially since Coinbase is currently the largest “facilitator” of x401 payments.

The second is Solana ($SOL). As mentioned earlier, Solana stands out for its ability to process thousands of transactions per second at a fraction of a cent. It’s technologically well-suited to support micropayments.

Additionally, many x402-related narrative plays are launching on Solana, similar to what happened with the AI narrative in 2024 (remember ai16z, Griffain, Zerebro?). If both the tech and narrative take off, speculation around Solana is likely to rise, which would be bullish for SOL’s price.

Lastly, EigenCloud ($EIGEN) joined Google’s AP2 (Agent Payment Protocol) as a partner in September and showcased a demo integrating EigenCloud Storage with AI-to-AI x402. As a trust layer for Ethereum, there is significant early speculation that $EIGEN could be pivotal in scaling x402 micropayments by providing the necessary trust and security for these transactions

Top x402 assets according to CoinGecko

There are more smaller plays on x402; however, at this moment, we don’t feel confident in them just yet. Therefore, the safest and optimal way to ride the narrative is just by riding $COIN or $SOL as proxies in our opinion.

x402 landscape

Peace!

Cryptonary, OUT!