What Coinbase builds for agent payments
x402 is Coinbase’s bid to make HTTP itself a payment rail. Instead of a checkout form, a server answers 402 with a price; the client (human app or AI agent) pays USDC and retries; the resource is released in the same session. That model is what lets agents buy API calls at $0.001 without a card on file.
Around the protocol, CDP packages a hosted facilitator (verify + settle), wallet APIs, and Base as the default low-fee chain. Most open-source x402 SDKs and demos in this directory either target CDP or stay wire-compatible with it.
If you are shipping an agent-payable API in 2026, Coinbase is still the fastest path from zero to a working paywall — then you can swap in a self-hosted facilitator later.
