Major technology companies including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services have joined as founding members of the newly created x402 Foundation, aimed at governing and standardizing the x402 protocol for agentic AI payments across crypto and fiat systems.
The Linux Foundation officially launched the x402 Foundation on Thursday with support from Coinbase, which originally developed the x402 protocol. Other founding participants include American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Cloudflare, Shopify, Stripe, Circle, Polygon Labs, Solana Foundation, Thirdweb, and KakaoPay.
Coinbase stated that placing the x402 protocol under the Linux Foundation gives it a neutral, nonprofit structure. This approach is expected to encourage wider adoption by developers and companies compared to launching it under a single corporate entity.
Open Standards Aim to Enable Autonomous AI Transactions
The x402 protocol is designed as an open payment standard that allows AI agents and web services to automatically pay for API access, digital data, and online services. Supporters believe agentic AI could soon become a dominant user of blockchain-based payment systems.
Brian Armstrong previously stated that AI agents may soon outnumber human users in online transactions. Similar views were shared by Jeremy Allaire, who predicted billions of AI agents could transact onchain within three to five years. Changpeng Zhao also described cryptocurrency as a natural payment method for automated AI systems handling everyday purchases.
x402 Transaction Activity Shows Sharp Rise and Decline
Data from analytics platform Dune Analytics showed that x402 protocol usage surged in late 2025 before declining in early 2026. Weekly transaction volume peaked between Nov. 4 and Nov. 10, reaching approximately 13.7 million transactions, followed by another 13.66 million transactions the next week.
However, transaction levels have since dropped significantly, with weekly volumes ranging between 29,000 and 1.1 million transactions during 2026, indicating a slowdown after the earlier surge in activity.
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