The x402 Foundation has been established as a collaborative hub for various competitors and payment systems to create a unified standard for AI-driven commerce.
By Ian Allison|Edited by Jamie CrawleyUpdated Jul 16, 2026, 11:31 a.m. Published Jul 16, 2026, 11:22 a.m. 3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Robot's hand on keyboard (Shutterstock)SummaryShow- The x402 protocol is a payment standard aimed at facilitating transactions between AI agents, machines, and users via HTTP.
- Notable members of the x402 Foundation include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Stripe.
- The foundation is currently seeking an executive director and has formed a technical steering committee.
Members of the x402 Foundation, linked to Linux, are applying lessons from the early web to forge an open standard for AI-centric commerce, specifically through a payment protocol designed for AI entities.
Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation and a key member of the x402 Foundation, recalls her experience with the initial web and the emergence of monopolistic practices that led to the current advertising-driven economy. She emphasized the importance of avoiding such "walled gardens" when dealing with financial transactions.
The x402 protocol, originally developed by the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and now managed by the foundation, aims to streamline payments between AI agents, machines, and users using the standard internet protocol HTTP, eliminating the need for subscriptions or manual credit card inputs.
The potential impact is significant as AI agents are expected to play a major role in online commerce, including numerous micropayments. Dixon remarked, “It may seem nerdy to care about standards so much, but we have the opportunity to create this truly open public global financial system that everyone can have access to.”
Other prominent members of the x402 Foundation include Ripple, Adyen, Fiserv, Shopify, Google, Amazon Web Services, and Cloudflare, alongside Circle, MoonPay, and the Solana Foundation.
Initially, Coinbase was responsible for guiding the x402 payment protocol, which derives its name from the "402 payment required" response code developed by early web architects to facilitate payments for online content.
However, the high fees associated with card payments rendered micropayments impractical, leading to the dominance of advertising and subscription-based business models, thereby leaving the 402 gateway unused.
According to Alin Dragos, senior manager at AWS Payments and now board chair of the x402 Foundation, placing x402 under the Linux Foundation is crucial for fostering the collaborative environment necessary for developing an open standard.
Dragos explained that the foundation aims to enhance the original HTTP design, which governs web server and browser communication. He stated, “While we have established a framework for information exchange, we lack an effective method for value exchange.” He emphasized the need for diverse competitors and payment systems to collaborate on this neutral ground to facilitate transactions on behalf of users.
The search for an executive director for the x402 Foundation is ongoing, and a technical steering committee has been set up. “The increase in our membership is a positive sign for a foundation that is just three months old and has recently become operational,” Dragos noted.
Dixon emphasized that AI agents do not engage with advertising, which could fundamentally alter the current internet model. She pointed out in a recent blog post that this opens up new models of content payment, suggesting, “Content might be paid for in a one-off manner.” She believes there are numerous intriguing opportunities arising from this shift. While blockchain has already addressed the underlying payment infrastructure, it is now becoming functional due to the involvement of AI agents, even if not yet at scale. “But it will,” she concluded.