AUTONOMOUS AGENTS WILL BE ETHEREUM'S POWER USERS

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

AI agents are becoming increasingly prevalent across our society. However, they remain limited in functionality and without the ability to pay for API calls, storage, or services. x402, an open payments protocol from Coinbase Developer Platform, aims to create a way for agents to pay for services across the internet via onchain microtransactions. It uses the HTTP 402 status code “payment required” to allow any service on the internet to gate access behind a crypto paywall, which can be seamlessly paid by agents. Applications include agents that run autonomous businesses, pay for their own upkeep, and web browsers paying to read gated content. x402 and Ethereum will be the backbone for the first “proto-digital lifeforms.”