Coinbase Devs Launch x402 Protocol to Enable Autonomous AI Agents for On-Chain Stablecoin Payments on Ethereum
Two Coinbase developers, Kevin Leffew and Lincoln Murr, have revived the dormant HTTP 402 web standard alongside Ethereum Improvement Proposal 3009 (EIP-3009) to enable on-chain stablecoin payments by autonomous AI agents. Their x402 payments protocol allows AI agents to autonomously request, sign and complete ETH-based stablecoin payments for services such as self-driving vehicles, content-generation tools and trading bots. Early implementations by Hyperbolic Labs and Prodia Labs integrate HTTP 402 with large language models and AI-driven image/video generation. The solution leverages Ethereum’s programmable settlement layer, trustless transactions and atomic payments to streamline invoicing and dispute resolution, potentially positioning AI agents as major users and energy consumers on the network.
Bullish
The introduction of the x402 protocol, built on HTTP 402 and EIP-3009, creates a new use case for autonomous AI agents to execute stablecoin payments on Ethereum. This is likely to drive additional on-chain transaction volume and gas fee demand, benefiting ETH in both the short and long term. Early integrations by Hyperbolic Labs and Prodia Labs signal growing developer interest, while the potential for AI agents to become major network users suggests sustained usage and energy consumption. Overall, this innovation enhances Ethereum’s utility as a programmable settlement layer, making the outlook for ETH adoption and price performance bullish.