2025 has proven to be a crucial year for cryptocurrency adoption. Previously, we had meme coins, but every token published on Pump.fun may drop to zero once it is released. The meme mania quickly turned to stablecoins, and from there, early backers, including Coinbase who are behind USDC, were deep in the green.
Major corporations, including BlackRock, and politicians, including Donald Trump, are surreptitiously watching Investing billions. Plasma technology took off immediately, but the network is not suitable for AI payment agents; However, Coinbase has a plan.
The new global financial order has arrived. pic.twitter.com/pkpXia30FS
— Plasma (@plasma) September 25, 2025
Realizing that a large portion of the world’s population has no experience with cryptocurrencies, Coinbase, through its Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP), is reviving an older technology and building x402 on top of it. The primary goal of x402 is to solve the “friction” in today’s digital economy, where payments in TradFi are slow, clunky, and not suitable for automation.
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What the heck is x402?
Simply put, x402 is an open source payment protocol that revives the long-dormant HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code in Web2. This code allows for instant and automatic payments, which is ideal for AI clients.
All it takes is a few lines of code, and x402 can be included in standard HTTP requests without the need for custom APIs. Blockchain walletsOr any other complex blockchain tool.
Coinbase He said x402 is developed for the “agent” future of the Internet, where AI agents and machines will take charge, enabling the automatic transfer of value in real-time while not adopting blockchain technology.
This feature means that x402 can be integrated with any chain, preferably low-fee platforms like BSC, Solana, or Ethereum Layer-2s.
The open source protocol could “define the next era of the Internet; an era in which value moves as freely and instantly as information,” said Eric Ripple, head of engineering at CDP. Ripple added that CDP “lays the foundation for an economy not only run by people, but also run by autonomous, intelligent, always-on software.”
If payment is everything, stablecoins fit x402 like a glove, providing cheap payments anywhere in the world without requiring users to hold volatile native tokens.
What’s more? Since x402 will be preferred on low-fee, scalable chains, the protocol will enable small transactions without the need for sub-subscriptions.
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What is the implied meaning? A boon for Ethereum and stablecoins?
One analyst at
is pHe predicts the future whereIts open source proTocol will lead to rapid transformation, allowing agents to take charge and empowermentIf a microphonePeriodic transactions that will be the “currency of the Internet of Artificial Intelligence.”
(source: Ryan Sadams, X)
The good news is that since Coinbase is behind this protocol, Ethereum, the host of DeFi alternatives, will directly benefit once it is deployed in USDC microtransactions on the second base layer.
Indeed, last month, the x402 processed more than 38,000 transactions, a 90% increase. What’s more? Trading volume rose almost 5,000% in the same period to more than $50,000.
(source: Scan x402)
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Coinbase CDP x402: AI-Based Stablecoin Monster?
- Payments are still slow, and inconvenient for AI clients
- Stablecoins are quickly finding adoption
- x402 will enable automatic payments using AI and stablecoins
- Adoption of x402 will be huge for Ethereum
The post Coinbase Betting Big: Will Artificial General Intelligence and Stablecoin Overtake Billions? appeared first on 99Bitcoins.