Coinbase’s x402 Transactions Surge Over 10,000% in a Month

Coinbase’s experimental x402 protocol — an online payments system enabling AI agents to transact autonomously in stablecoins — has recorded an explosive 10,000% rise in transaction activity over the past month, according to Dune Analytics data.

AI Meets Crypto Payments

Launched in May, x402 reintroduces the long-unused HTTP 402 status code — “Payment Required” — to make payments a native function of the internet.

It allows both AI agents and humans to pay directly while interacting with websites or applications. When a service requires payment, users (or AI) receive an HTTP 402 prompt and send a signed stablecoin transaction, which is verified automatically by x402 — eliminating the need for credit cards or intermediaries.

Between Oct. 14 and 20, nearly 500,000 x402 transactions were recorded — a 10,780% increase compared to the previous month. On Friday, x402 hit a new record with 239,505 transactions and $332,000 in transaction volume, according to Dune Analytics.

Source: Brian Armstrong on X

Autonomous Finance on the Rise

The surge follows heightened interest in agentic AI — AI agents that can act and transact independently — highlighted in a16z Crypto’s 2025 State of Crypto report, which predicts autonomous transactions could reach $30 trillion by 2030.

Coinbase developers Kevin Leffew and Lincoln Murr explained earlier this year that agentic AIs could “manage their own payments and resources,” such as:

• Self-driving taxis paying for fuel or tolls in stablecoins

• Autonomous apps using crypto to store or retrieve data

• AI trading bots optimizing portfolios in real time

x402 Ecosystem Expands

The rapid adoption of x402 has sparked new developer activity. KuCoin Ventures noted that developers are leveraging the x402 design to launch tokens directly — fueling a surge of x402-powered memecoins.

In response, CoinGecko has added an official “x402 Ecosystem” category, which has already ballooned into a $180 million market, up 266% in the past 24 hours.

Source: CoinGecko – x402 Ecosystem

Ethereum: The Settlement Layer for AI

According to Leffew and Murr, Ethereum remains the ideal blockchain for HTTP 402 payments thanks to its trustless settlement layer, atomic transactions, and composable wallet infrastructure.

“They need atomic payments, programmable policies, and composable wallets,” the pair noted.

“Ethereum and stablecoins give them exactly that.”

The Bigger Picture

With AI agents increasingly capable of autonomous decision-making and financial operations, protocols like x402 may become the foundation for a new generation of machine-to-machine commerce — where software, not humans, becomes the primary economic actor.