A coalition of major technology and payments companies has launched the x402 Foundation to oversee and standardize the x402 payment protocol for agentic AI, supporting transactions across both crypto and fiat rails.
The Linux Foundation announced the new body Thursday, with Coinbase contributing the x402 protocol to the nonprofit. Early backers and participants include Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Cloudflare, Shopify, Stripe, Circle, Base, Polygon Labs, Solana Foundation, Thirdweb and KakaoPay.
Linux Foundation CEO Jim Zemlin argued the internet’s success rests on open protocols and said x402 should follow an open-source governance model. Coinbase framed its contribution as placing x402 in a “neutral, nonprofit home,” a move the company says will make the standard more attractive to a wider set of tech firms and developers than if it remained tied to a single corporate owner.
x402 is an open payment standard designed to let AI agents and web services autonomously pay for APIs, data and other digital services across conventional payment rails and blockchain networks. The foundation aims to create a common technical and governance framework so enterprises, payment networks and developers can adopt agent-to-service payments with greater interoperability and trust.
The launch comes amid growing expectations that AI agents will become heavy users of digital payments. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has predicted AI agents will soon outnumber humans as online transactors, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has said there could be “literally billions of AI agents” conducting onchain transactions within a few years. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has also suggested crypto could serve as a native medium for agent-based economic activity, enabling automated tasks such as booking tickets or paying bills.
On-chain activity tied to x402 spiked in late 2025, according to Dune Analytics, peaking in the week of Nov. 4–10 with about 13.7 million transactions and remaining near 13.66 million the following week. Activity eased considerably through 2026, with weekly volumes falling from millions into the tens of thousands and, at times, rising to roughly 1.1 million.
By placing x402 under the Linux Foundation’s stewardship, proponents hope to create a neutral governance structure that encourages broader participation and standardization as agentic AI use cases mature. As with other emerging standards and technologies, readers and industry participants are encouraged to independently verify technical and adoption details.