Protocol profile
x402
In short
An HTTP 402 payment protocol: a server answers 402 with payment requirements, the client pays (mostly stablecoins on EVM chains and Solana, Lightning since Sep 2026) and retries; governed by the x402 Foundation. For x402, merchant of record is seller and dispute rules are none. Announced but not yet live: Adyen. One limit: does not offer chargebacks on stablecoin payments.
Fact sheet
- Type
- Protocol
- Operator
- x402 Foundation (Linux Foundation)
- Homepage
- x402.org
- Matrix reach
- 3 live, 0 pilot, 1 announced, 0 not supported, 23 with no statement found
Readiness for merchants
Seven rows, each read from a primary source on 4 Nov 2026. The method page defines every row.
| Rubric row | Reading | Evidence | Source and read date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specification public | Yes | Spec v1 and v2 public on GitHub. | github.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Reference implementation | Yes | TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs; Coinbase CDP facilitator. | github.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Live surfaces | API and agent tools | Used for pay-per-call APIs; no consumer shopping surface uses it for retail checkout. | x402.org, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Processor support | Yes | Stripe accepts x402 (USDC on Base); Coinbase runs a facilitator. | docs.stripe.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Merchant of record | Seller | The server operator receives payment directly; no card-network merchant concept applies to stablecoin settlement. | x402.org, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Dispute rules | None | Onchain settlement is final; no chargeback mechanism in the spec. | github.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Cost | Network fees only | Zero protocol fees; facilitator fees vary (Coinbase $0.001 after 1,000 a month). | docs.cdp.coinbase.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
The row in full: every column
| Column | Status | Note | Source and read date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | live | Machine payments accept x402 USDC on Base; US businesses except New York | docs.stripe.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Adyen | announced | Premier member of the x402 Foundation; no Adyen x402 acceptance docs found | x402.org, 4 Nov 2026 |
| PayPal | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | developer.paypal.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Checkout.com | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | checkout.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Braintree | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | developer.paypal.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Worldpay | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | worldpay.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Coinbase | live | x402 originator; CDP Facilitator settles on Base and Solana with OFAC and KYT screening | docs.cdp.coinbase.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Crossmint | live | Agent Wallets pay APIs per call over x402 with card-funded stablecoin wallets | docs.crossmint.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Skyfire | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | docs.skyfire.xyz, 4 Nov 2026 |
| PayOS | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | payos.ai, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Shopify | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | shopify.dev, 4 Nov 2026 |
| BigCommerce | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | bigcommerce.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Salesforce CC | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | salesforce.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Adobe Commerce | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | experienceleague.adobe.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| commercetools | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | docs.commercetools.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| WooCommerce | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | woocommerce.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Amazon | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | aboutamazon.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Walmart | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | corporate.walmart.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Target | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | corporate.target.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Etsy | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | help.etsy.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Wayfair | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | aboutwayfair.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| ChatGPT | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | chatgpt.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Google AI Mode | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | developers.google.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Perplexity | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | perplexity.ai, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Amazon Rufus | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | aboutamazon.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Meta Muse | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | about.fb.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| Copilot | no statement found | no statement found (2026-11-04) | about.ads.microsoft.com, 4 Nov 2026 |
| 3 live or pilot of 27 |
What x402 does not do
- Does not offer chargebacks on stablecoin payments.
- Is not a retail checkout protocol: no cart, tax or shipping objects.
- Does not identify the paying agent beyond the wallet unless an identity extension is used.
Sourced facts
- x402.org says a server responds with HTTP 402 when a request arrives without payment, prompting the client to pay and retry; it lists zero protocol fees. x402.org, read 4 Nov 2026.
- The Linux Foundation announced the x402 Foundation on 2 Apr 2026 at MCP Dev Summit North America, with 22 organisations stating intent to support it. linuxfoundation.org, read 4 Nov 2026.
- The Linux Foundation announced the operational launch on 14 Jul 2026 with 40 member organisations; premier members include Adyen, AWS, American Express, Circle, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Fiserv, Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa. x402.org, read 4 Nov 2026.
- The x402-foundation GitHub organisation holds the spec repo plus tsc (created 10 Jul 2026) and working groups for identity, tax, domain discovery and card acceptance (created 23 Sep 2026). github.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- The spec defines exact, upto, auth-capture and batch-settlement schemes; the exact scheme covers EVM, Solana, Algorand, Aptos, Canton, Cardano, Hedera, NEAR, Starknet, Stellar, Sui, TON, XRPL and others. github.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- An exact scheme for Bitcoin Lightning (lnbtc) was merged into the spec on 23 Sep 2026 (PR #2861). github.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Coinbase's CDP facilitator says it has processed more than 100 million x402 payments and $28 million in volume across Base and Solana. docs.cdp.coinbase.com, read 4 Nov 2026.Vendor claim
- Coinbase charges nothing for the first 1,000 onchain facilitator transactions a month, then $0.001 each; verification is free. docs.cdp.coinbase.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Mastercard Agent Pay for Machines builds on x402 (20 Oct 2026). mastercard.com, read 4 Nov 2026.
In the vendors section
- Coinbase Developer Platform, agent-pay builder profile
- MoonPay, agent-pay builder profile
- thirdweb, agent-pay builder profile
- Cloudflare, rules or identity programme profile
- x402 Foundation, rules or identity programme profile
Compare and alternatives
Sources
- x402.org, read 4 Nov 2026
- Linux Foundation launches the x402 Foundation, read 4 Nov 2026
- x402 Foundation operational launch, read 4 Nov 2026
- x402 card acceptance working group, read 4 Nov 2026
- x402 specification repository, read 4 Nov 2026
- x402 exact scheme on Lightning (lnbtc), read 4 Nov 2026
- docs.cdp.coinbase.com/x402/core-concepts/facilitator, read 4 Nov 2026
- Watch Mastercard Agent Pay for Machines in action, read 4 Nov 2026
- docs.stripe.com/payments/machine.md, read 4 Nov 2026
- docs.crossmint.com/agents/overview, read 4 Nov 2026
Last reviewed