Autonomous agents are poised to become the most active users of the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to a post by the Ethereum Foundation on X.
0/ Autonomous agents are about to become Ethereum’s biggest power users.
Guest thread from @kleffew94 and @MurrLincoln on how a long-forgotten HTTP status code, ‘402 Payment Required’ could unlock a new frontier for Ethereum: agentic commerce. 🧵
— Ethereum (@ethereum) August 13, 2025
The organization published a guest thread from Coinbase developers Kevin Leffew and Lincoln Murr. They believe autonomous agents could open new possibilities for e-commerce on the Ethereum network through the HTTP standard.
The HTTP 402 Payment Required status, combined with the EIP-3009 update, will enable autonomous systems to conduct stablecoin transfers without human intervention.
According to the authors, this will create opportunities across various sectors, from driverless taxis to AI models generating content on demand.
Leffew and Murr likened the process to a vending machine: an AI agent receives an HTTP 402 request, signs the transaction, and makes the payment.
“One request-response cycle. Like a vending machine. No accounts required,” the authors noted.
Ethereum is the “ideal” blockchain for integrating HTTP 402, as it makes the billing and refund process in case of disputes far more efficient compared to traditional methods, the experts emphasized.
“They need atomic payments, programmable rules, and compatible wallets. Ethereum and stablecoins provide exactly that,” they assert.
Developers are already experimenting with HTTP 402: Hyperbolic Labs has implemented it in its large language model, and Prodia Labs in image and video content generation.
“The magic of x402 is not only that agents can pay, but also that they can autonomously link services into complete economic cycles,” Leffew and Murr concluded.
Fundstrat Capital’s Chief Investment Officer Tom Lee remarked that “Ethereum is the biggest macro bet for the next 10-15 years, as AI creates a tokenized economy on the blockchain, and Wall Street moves its financial operations to the distributed ledger.”
In May, Coinbase introduced the x402 online payment tool. It is designed for stablecoin transfers via standard internet protocols and allows AI agents to conduct autonomous transactions.