Coinbase’s AI-focused payment protocol x402 is moving toward an open, standardized infrastructure under the Linux Foundation, the nonprofit hub for open-source software development. The move is aimed at creating a community-governed ecosystem for high-frequency microtransactions that the traditional financial sector cannot efficiently handle.
The protocol has formed an initial governing body, the x402 Foundation, which includes internet services company Cloudflare and payments giant Stripe, with support from a long list of other major players.
The industry interest in X402 comes as AI-driven commerce expands. In particular, so-called agentic payments, which are executed autonomously by AI agents, are a hot topic, especially within certain areas of the crypto industry where it is believed that programmable, blockchain-based micropayments make the most sense.
x402 is designed for these payments. Unlike using ChatGPT as the front end for a traditional shopping cart, it can handle transactions worth just a fraction of a cent at high frequency – something traditional credit card networks struggle to manage.
Now using the Linux Foundation to scale an open-source ecosystem, x402 aims to address potential interoperability issues by creating something like a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for AI agents, in other words a standard technology that encrypts the connection between a web server and a browser.
“The Internet is built on open protocols,” said Jim Zemlin, CEO of the Linux Foundation. “The x402 Foundation will create an open, community-governed home to develop these open-air capabilities, ensuring they evolve with transparency, interoperability and broad participation across the ecosystem.”
Coinbase said in a press release Thursday that the foundation’s additional membership will include participants from multiple industries, with initial intent and support expressed by Adyen, Amazon Web Services, American Express, Ampersend.ai, Ant International, Base, Circle, Fiserv Merchant Solutions, Google, KakaoPay, Mastercard, Merit Systems, Microsoft, Polygon Labs, PPRO, Sierra. Shopify, Solana Foundation, Thirdweb and Visa.
“The shift to agentic commerce requires a cloud infrastructure that is as open as the protocols it supports,” said James Tromans, Managing Director, Web3 and Digital Assets, Google Cloud. By joining the x402 Foundation, Google is strengthening its commitment to interoperable standards that enable secure, AI-powered transactions across platforms.”