The Cardano network integrated the x402 protocol, a technology developed by the Coinbase exchange and designed to allow artificial intelligence (AI) agents and applications to execute payments with each other over the internet. All this, without depending on accounts, passwords or traditional authentication systems.
Google has also given its support to this technology by incorporating it into the Agent Payment Protocol (AP2). It is a tool for streamline transactions between AI agents.
As CriptoNoticias explained, the x402 protocol acts as an extension of the HTTP standard (HyperText Transfer Protocol. It is the same one used by web browsers), but with the ability to incorporate cryptographic transactions directly on the web.
In this way, instead of creating new payment infrastructures, x402 takes advantage of the existing internet network to facilitate micropayments and automatic transfers between machines or digital services. A characteristic that makes them a key tool for the economy of autonomous agents powered by AI.
Given this context, the integration with Cardano allows applications developed on this network to use x402 as a payment layer, so that intelligent programs or automated agents can make and receive payments in ADA or tokens issued on Cardano.
On a practical level, this expands the development possibilities within Cardano. Charles Hoskinson himself, CEO of Cardano, qualified this integration as “very good” for the network, in a publication on the social network X.
Hoskinson’s comment came in response to a publication from Patrick Tobler, CEO of Masumi, who that same day had announced the progress of the integration between x402, Cardano and Masumi.
Masumi is an infrastructure platform built on Cardano that allows you to create, test and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) and tokens with open source tools.
Its link with the x402 protocol lies in the fact that it acts as a testing environment to verify the communication between Cardano and the artificial intelligence layer provided by Coinbase.
In his post, Tobler explained that the team achieved a first proof of concept (proof of concept) called Memecoin Mint, accessible on its website.
There, users can mint an experimental token that requires “2 USDM (a Cardano stablecoin) and some ADA to cover network fees,” according to Tobler.
That proof of concept means that it has been achieved a tech demo of x402 integration on Cardanoby creating a memecoin as proof that the protocol can be used to make payments and mint digital assets in a decentralized and automated way.
Finally, the CEO also clarified that It is not a real assetbut only a test intended to show how the technology works. “There are zero plans for the future of this currency,” he said.