Besides memes, what other projects should x402 pay attention to?

To understand x402, we need to start with a "legacy feature" that has been shelved for nearly thirty years. As early as 1997, the HTTP protocol reserved the status code 402, representing "payment required." However, due to the lack of feasible payment methods, it was abandoned. Now, with the maturity of crypto-native stablecoins, L2 cryptocurrencies reducing payment costs, and the rise of AI agents creating real demand for micropayments, Coinbase has leveraged this "long-dormant button" to launch the x402 protocol: allowing anyone or AI to complete on-chain payments when accessing paid content without registering an account or being redirected to another page. What appears to be a simple "automatic payment" system actually involves a completely rebuilt ecosystem. From protocol standards to infrastructure and upper-layer applications, x402 has the potential to reshape the payment logic of the internet. This article will delve into this emerging x402 ecosystem to examine what protocols, chains, infrastructure, and applications, besides Meme, are actually functioning.

Protocol Layer: Enabling AI Agents to Make Payments

The x402 protocol layer is not a single standard, but a set of modular combinations that solve three key problems: AI Agents How to communicate, how to make payments, and how to establish identity and trust. The core of this is the x402 protocol itself. Based on the HTTP 402 status code design, it allows AI to automatically receive payment requests when accessing paid content or APIs, and complete on-chain transfers using stablecoins such as USDC. The entire process requires no registration and no redirection. To enable collaboration between AIs, Google proposed the A2A (Agent-to-Agent) protocol to standardize communication and task handover between agents. Anthropic also launched the MCP protocol to provide AI with access tools and contextual data interfaces. Building upon MCP, Google further released the AP2 payment protocol, enabling AI Agents to invoke services on demand and complete automatic payments, while remaining compatible with traditional payments and x402. The key to the implementation of these protocols is Ethereum's EIP-3009 extension. It allows users to authorize token transfers via signatures without paying gas fees, solving the payment problem of "no ETH in the AI ​​wallet." Complementing this is the ERC-8004, currently under development. This system establishes an on-chain identity and reputation system for AI agents, recording execution records and trust scores to help service providers determine the reliability of agents. In summary, the x402 protocol layer is gradually building a "language + currency + trust" system for AI, enabling AI agents to complete transactions, collaborations, and payments without human intervention. This is the first step towards the successful operation of the entire ecosystem. The x402 protocol defines the solution, but what truly makes it work is a whole infrastructure layer responsible for verifying requests, completing payments, coordinating services, and linking AI with the blockchain. First up is Cloudflare (@Cloudflare). As a global cloud platform, it co-founded the x402 Foundation with Coinbase and integrated its protocol into its CDN nodes and development tools. Cloudflare not only provides a global distribution network but also supports a "use resources first, pay later" deferred payment mechanism, helping AI Agents smoothly acquire content and complete settlements. Next is the x402 Facilitator, a payment aggregator (comprising multiple projects), responsible for helping the AI ​​agent complete a series of on-chain processes including payment processing, settlement, and broadcasting. Users or the AI ​​only need to initiate an HTTP 402 request, and the Facilitator will pay the gas, package the transaction, and complete the on-chain broadcast. The settlement process uses the EIP-3009 standard, allowing for one-time authorization of USDC deductions. The entire process does not require the AI ​​to hold tokens or manually sign, greatly simplifying on-chain interaction. According to the data in the chart below, Coinbase (@coinbase) remains the largest facilitator, processing over 1.35 million transactions and covering 80,000 buyers; PayAI (@PayAINetwork) ranks second, active on chains such as Solana and Base, with a cumulative transaction volume of $280,000 and even more users than Coinbase. Others such as X402rs, Thirdweb (@thirdweb), and Open X402 (@openx402) are also vying for market share. In addition to Facilitator, a "native settlement blockchain" has emerged, specifically built for x402. A representative project is Kite AI (@GoKiteAI), one of the first Layer 1 blockchains to fully embed the x402 payment primitives into the underlying layer, and it has received support from institutions such as Coinbase Ventures and PayPal Ventures. It does not directly handle payment verification (not a facilitator), but rather provides an execution and settlement environment for x402 transactions, supporting agents to automatically initiate, receive, and reconcile on-chain payments through standardized authorization instructions. At the execution level, besides Kite AI, a native chain designed for AI payments, Peaq (@peaq) in the DePIN space is also playing a key role. Peaq is a public chain focused on the machine economy and natively supports the x402 protocol, enabling automatic payments and settlements between devices and between agents. The representative project of the x402 collaboration layer is Questflow (@questflow). Developers can publish proxy tasks on it, set prices, and complete on-chain settlement directly through x402. It has already cooperated with Virtuals, Gate, etc. In addition, there are AurraCloud (@AurraCloud) and Meridian (@mrdn_finance), which provide multi-chain settlement and custody services using the x402 protocol. In summary, the x402 infrastructure layer is being built around three core issues: how to send requests, how to securely receive payments, and how to quickly deploy payments across different chains. These factors determine whether the entire payment system can truly function. Application Layer: What applications actually use x402?

The x402 protocol and infrastructure are set up, but we still need to see if the application layer is active. Currently, there are very few projects that have been implemented.

• Daydreams (@daydreamsagents): Building an LLM inference platform that uses x402 payments.

  Daydreams (@daydreamsagents): Building an LLM inference platform that uses x402 payments.

• Heurist Deep Research (@heurist_ai): A Web3-native AI research platform where users pay per query in USDC and automatically generate multi-page research reports.

• Gloria AI (@itsgloria_ai): Enables pay-per-view news using x402. Snack Money API: A micro-payment interface for X, Farcaster, etc., enabling small-amount payments and tipping around identity and social interaction. (@tipdotmd): Allows an AI assistant to directly complete encrypted tipping for users within the chat interface. USDC tips use MCP+x402 for the entire payment process. Firecrawl (@firecrawl_dev): A web scraping and cleaning API that converts websites into LLM-compatible data, using x402 for pay-per-use. Overall, x402's application layer is still being explored, and its functional platform is just starting out. It hasn't yet achieved economies of scale, and it remains to be seen who can first create a truly usable, payable, and reusable product.

  Meme: Price and popularity fluctuate greatly

  As the popularity of x402-related concepts rises, a number of native meme projects that "piggyback" on the narrative have quickly emerged in the market. The most representative of these is PING, issued on the Base chain. On its launch day, its market capitalization quickly surpassed ten million US dollars. Besides PING, tokens like "PENG" and "x402" have also emerged in the community. These meme tokens do not currently constitute the core of the protocol, but they can provide attention, buzz, and early-stage liquidity. What challenges does x402 still face after the protocol's implementation? While the x402 concept is eye-catching, its practical implementation faces several challenges. First, there's a lack of truly usable products. Most projects are currently in the testnet or proof-of-concept phase, resulting in a rough user experience. Second, the technology stack is complex and integration costs are high. x402 involves a new protocol integrating multiple modules such as payment, signature transfers, and proxy communication, posing a significant barrier to entry for developers. Third, there are compliance risks. While its main selling point is "account-free, no-redirect payment," and it boasts high efficiency, it bypasses the KYC/AML requirements of traditional payment systems, potentially raising regulatory concerns in some regions. Fourth, the network effect has not yet been formed. The core of payment protocols lies in ecosystem collaboration, but currently, few services and platforms have integrated x402, and the ecosystem has not yet formed a self-sustaining cycle. In summary, x402 is still some distance from "large-scale use," and several hurdles need to be overcome from technology to real-world implementation. From a participation perspective, the long-term opportunities for x402 lie more in the deployment of infrastructure and key platforms. First, there's the base chain and infrastructure. x402's core relies on Ethereum ecosystem standards such as EIP-3009 and ERC-8004, while Base is currently the most important blockchain for implementation, boasting a strong stablecoin closed loop and a friendly development environment, and is expected to incubate leading products first. Solana also has advantages in high-frequency payments, making it suitable for agent microtransaction scenarios. Secondly, there's the native settlement blockchain Kite AI, and payment aggregators and service platforms such as PayAI, Meridian, and AurraCloud. These are responsible for verifying payments, handling gas, and connecting to APIs; once a universal entry point is established, their value will rapidly amplify. As for the token side, caution is advised. Currently, x402-related tokens have small market capitalization and high volatility, and many meme tokens are still in the narrative-driven stage. Projects with genuine payment implementation or platform value are more worthy of attention.

  KOL Perspective

  In the current climate of divergent market opinions, the views of many leading Builders and KOLs on the x402 ecosystem are also worth noting.