Micropayment
A very small payment, typically under one cent, enabled by low-fee chains and stablecoins - the core unit of x402 pay-per-call billing.
Related terms
- Pay-per-call - A pricing model where the client pays a fixed amount for each API request rather than a flat monthly subscription.
- USDC - USD Coin - a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle and the default settlement asset for most x402 deployments.
- Base - Coinbase's Layer 2 optimistic rollup, the primary settlement network used by x402 because of its low fees and native USDC support.
Recent stories
PROTOCOL
- Coinbase Q1 call: 99% of x402 settled in USDC, 90% of agentic stablecoin volume on Base - Choi calls x402 'the open standard for the next wave of agentic commerce' · theglobeandmail.com
- Circle ships Nanopayments on mainnet - gas-free USDC down to $0.000001 across 11 chains, fully x402 v2 compatible · circle.com
- Kite ships mainnet + Agent Passport - first x402-native chain with programmable agent wallets goes live · globenewswire.com
- Utexo enables USDT payments on x402 with near-instant Bitcoin-native settlement · prnewswire.com
- AWS Bedrock integrates x402 - first major cloud provider with native HTTP 402 payment rails for agents · cryptobriefing.com
MARKET
- OKX Ventures: x402 Daily Transactions Crater 92% from December Peak · blockchain.news
- 80% of Acquirers Say They’re Ready for Agentic Commerce · pymnts.com
- Two-Layer Payments Stack Emerging for AI-Native Transactions · en.cryptonomist.ch
- AI Agents Already Driving 10% of Revenue for Some Brands · fortune.com
- Circle: USDC Dominates AI Agent Payment Flows · en.sedaily.com