Agentic Payments Live on MultiversX
Autonomous AI agents can now make payments on MultiversX. The x402 protocol—an open standard for HTTP-native blockchain payments originally developed by Coinbase—has been adapted for the MultiversX network, unlocking a new category of applications where AI agents transact independently without human intervention.
The implementation is available today. Builders who want to experiment with agentic payments on MultiversX can fork the codebase and integrate x402 into their applications immediately.
What Is x402?
HTTP 402 "Payment Required" is one of the oldest reserved status codes in web history. When the HTTP specification was drafted in the early 1990s, code 402 was set aside for future digital payment systems. For over 30 years, it remained dormant—a placeholder waiting for the technology to catch up.
That moment has arrived. In September 2025, Coinbase launched x402 as a production-ready protocol that revives the 402 status code for blockchain-based payments. The protocol allows any web service to require payment before serving content, embedding the entire payment flow directly into HTTP requests and responses. No redirects. No accounts. No API keys.
When a client requests a protected resource, the server responds with HTTP 402 and includes payment instructions in the response headers. The client submits a signed payment (typically a stablecoin like USDC), the transaction is verified onchain, and the server delivers the requested resource. The entire exchange happens in seconds.
This design is purpose-built for autonomous software. AI agents can discover services, negotiate payment terms, submit transactions, and access APIs—all programmatically, without requiring a human to fill out forms or click buttons.
Industry Adoption and Technical Foundation
x402 is not a speculative experiment. The protocol has been adopted by major technology and infrastructure companies, including Coinbase, Cloudflare, and Google. To date, the x402 ecosystem has processed over 75 million transactions across multiple blockchain networks, representing over $24 million in transaction volume.
Coinbase provides a hosted facilitator service that handles payment verification and settlement, eliminating the need for servers to maintain their own blockchain infrastructure. Cloudflare has integrated x402 into its developer tools, including the Agents SDK and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, enabling agents to make payments automatically. Google has incorporated x402 into its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a broader framework for agent-initiated commerce.
The protocol is blockchain-agnostic. While USDC on Base is the most common implementation, x402 supports Solana, Polygon, Ethereum Layer 2 networks, and other chains through its extensible scheme system. Each payment scheme defines how transactions are structured and verified for a given network, allowing the protocol to adapt to different blockchain architectures without breaking compatibility.
From a technical standpoint, x402 uses EIP-3009 (TransferWithAuthorization) for gasless stablecoin transfers on EVM chains—users sign an authorization offchain, and a relayer submits it onchain while covering gas fees.
What MultiversX Brings to Agentic Payments
MultiversX's architecture offers distinct advantages for x402 implementations. With the Supernova upgrade, the network will deliver sub-second finality on a fully sharded blockchain, capable of processing tens of thousands of transactions per second with minimal fees. For agents making frequent micropayments across multiple APIs, these characteristics enable real-time interactions that would be impractical on slower networks.
MultiversX also benefits from a mature smart contract ecosystem built on the SpaceCraft framework. The recent v0.64.0 release introduced a modernized payments API with unified handling of EGLD and ESDT tokens. These improvements simplify the integration of x402 payment logic into smart contracts, reducing the potential for implementation errors.
The roadmap adds another dimension: protocol-level zero-knowledge proofs. When these privacy primitives are implemented, MultiversX will enable agentic payments with native privacy guarantees. Agents could transact without revealing their full payment history to service providers, or prove they've paid for a resource without disclosing the exact amount.
For enterprise use cases where autonomous systems handle sensitive transactions—procurement agents negotiating with vendors, or healthcare AI accessing patient data APIs—privacy-preserving payments become a requirement, not a feature. The combination of x402's payment infrastructure and protocol-level ZK proofs positions MultiversX to support agentic commerce scenarios that require both autonomy and confidentiality.
Use Cases and Applications
Agentic payments unlock business models that are impractical with traditional payment infrastructure. An AI agent researching market data can autonomously pay per API call to access real-time feeds from multiple providers, assembling a composite view without requiring pre-negotiated contracts or monthly subscriptions. A code generation agent can purchase compute time on demand from specialized inference services, paying only for the tokens generated.
The model extends beyond AI. DeFi protocols could use x402 to gate access to high-frequency data oracles, charging per query rather than requiring staking or token holdings. Gaming applications could allow NPCs to purchase in-game services from other players programmatically. Developer tools could monetize API access at the individual request level, eliminating the friction of subscription tiers and usage limits.
What This Unlocks for the Ecosystem
The arrival of x402 on MultiversX positions the network for a wave of agent-native applications. The bottleneck for autonomous systems is no longer intelligence—it's infrastructure for transacting value programmatically.
The implications extend beyond payments. As agents gain the ability to transact independently, they become first-class economic participants. Services can be composed dynamically, with agents discovering and purchasing capabilities on demand. Markets can operate 24/7 with autonomous buyers and sellers. The internet begins to function more like a true economy—one where value moves as freely as information.
x402 is in production. The code is available. Builders can start integrating it today.
From Theory to Practice: Implementation and Getting Started
The MultiversX x402 implementation is a fork of Coinbase's reference codebase, adapted for EGLD and ESDT tokens. The integration includes native support for MultiversX's relayedV3 protocol, enabling gasless transactions for both token types, including smart contract calls in all combinations.
The repository includes SDKs in TypeScript and Go—both fully integrated with the relayedV3 solution—along with additional language support for Python and Java. Integration examples are provided for Express, Hono, and Next.js.
Access the code: github.com/sasurobert/x402
The architecture follows x402's standard pattern: resource servers protect endpoints behind payment requirements, clients construct signed payment payloads, and facilitators verify transactions onchain. The integration follows the same patterns as other x402 implementations—middleware protects routes in one line, client libraries handle payment negotiation automatically. The primary differences are MultiversX-specific network identifiers and token configurations for EGLD/ESDT rather than EVM chains and ERC-20 tokens.
To get started:
- Fork or clone the repository
- Review examples in /examples
- Configure a MultiversX wallet for signing
- Deploy a test server with x402 middleware
- Build a client with payment logic
The repository includes end-to-end tests demonstrating the full payment flow. For support, the MultiversX developer community is active on Discord and Telegram, and the x402 ecosystem maintains a Discord server for cross-chain discussions.
Resources:
- Repository: github.com/sasurobert/x402
- x402 Protocol: x402.org
- MultiversX Docs: docs.multiversx.com
- x402 Ecosystem: x402.org/ecosystem
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