Cardano joins the x402 payment standard, AI agents can use ADA to complete payments

Cardano has joined the official x402 software development kit, allowing developers to enable applications or AI agents to use ADA or Cardano network tokens to pay for online services. x402 transforms the basic idle "402 Payment Required" response in web pages into a checkout process built into internet requests: the service provider returns the price and payment instructions, the agent signs the payment, and after transaction verification, the required data or computing power can be obtained.

This means that AI agents can purchase individual datasets on demand when preparing reports, without the need for manual account registration, entering credit card information, or subscribing to monthly fees. x402 was created by Coinbase in 2025 and subsequently contributed to an organization under the Linux Foundation, with members including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Google, and Amazon Web Services. Solana, XRP Ledger, and several Ethereum-compatible networks have previously supported this standard.

Engineers from the Cardano Foundation have built client and server software for payment requests based on the specifications passed in June, as well as a facilitator responsible for verifying and submitting transactions. The first version supports TypeScript, with Python support planned for later release. Facilitator documentation shows that it has completed a real transaction on the Cardano pre-production network, but it has not yet run on the mainnet, nor has it demonstrated scenarios where agents use ADA to pay for commercial services on a large scale.