Author: Lacie, Bitget Wallet Fellow
I. Introduction: Web2 and Web3 "Pasy Gap"
The current digital ecology is being torn apart by the inherent opposition between Web2 and Web3. On the one hand, Web2’s easy payments (e.g. Apple Pay, Twitter payments) are locked in a “wall garden” by centralized platforms and territorial boundaries; on the other hand, Web3 promises a globally open, unlicensed financial future, but is a “technical island” that the mainstream users can expect because of its high price volatility and complex user experience。
The gap between "fastness" and "openness" has led Web3 to carry the label "hard to land" and "speculation." And in this context, an open agreement called x402 has entered people's minds. The solution it proposes is novel: it is not a new stove, but an attempt to activate a 26-year-old Internet bottom standard — — HTTP 402 (Payment Required)。
figure: x402 introduction to
source: x402 (https://www.x402.org/)
Will this "re-activation" of the Internet bottom protocol standards be key to bridging the gap? Does it bode well for the birth of a primitive, open Web-paying layer and fundamentally reshape the flow of value over the Internet? Bitget Wallet will take you to the depth of this in this paper。
ii. late outbreak: what is x 402 and why is it now that you "go round"
x402 is an open-source agreement developed by Coinbase in May 2025. Its core objective is to activate the long-unused HTTP 402 status code, transform it into an Internet-based, non-licensed payment mechanism, and eventually establish a gateway between Web2 applications and Web3 value networks。
One interesting thing, however, is that the x-402 agreement was on line as early as May, and then it exploded five months later. In fact, the 402 state code itself is not a "new invention" of the encrypted world, but a preset code from the HTTP protocol of the 1990s。
then: why does an "old standard" and a "not new" agreement only trigger competition in the market in the near future? the table below summarizes the critical time points from the birth of x 402 to the explosion, and helps us understand the facts behind this "delayed explosion"。
Table: Timelines for the birth and application of x402 (as of 28 October 2025)
as shown in the time line above, the evolution path of x 402 reveals the following key facts:
- First, x402 is based on a modern application of the 1999 HTTP 402 status code, which has been "sealed" for a long time for lack of application。
- Second, the x402 agreement was initiated by Coinbase and quickly gained the support and integration of Google, Cloudflare, Visa and other Web2 giants within months。
- Thirdly, although the agreement has been in place for several months, it is the Meme currency that has been "run out of the loop" and has recently skyrocketed through the concept of "x402"。
In short, the current blast of x402 is the result of a combination of a technological vision (AI Agent payments) and a speculative boom (Meme push). But without the noise of the market, we should focus more on its technology core & mdash; & mdash; how does it work
III. Unlocking and internalization: how to activate sleeping HTTP 402
To understand x402, it is important to look at the 1990s. The Internet transfers information between the client and the server via the HTTP protocol (HypperText Transfer Protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol). HTTP defines a range of response status codes (HTTP Response Status Codes) to represent specific functions such as "404 Not Found" (not found on page) or "200 OK" (request successful)。
Table: Summary of HTTP status index
data source: Bitget Wallet
In this large code system, the 402 (Payment Required) status code is particularly special. At the beginning of its design, it conceived a form of negotiated micro-payments that would have achieved immediate payment of — — no middleman or delay. However, as the Internet economy moved towards advertising, platforms and complex credit card forms, the concept of the 402 status code was put on hold and the standard had not been used on a scale。
x402 appears precisely to revalue the "unlock" status code of 402. the work flow is logical:
- When a user requests a fee-paying resource, the server does not return a "jumping " command (directed to a subscription page), but returns a 402 status code. This response included all the key information needed to complete the payment: the address of the receipt, the amount of payment, the supporting block chain network (e.g. Base, Polygon, etc.) and the currency type (e.g. USDC)。
- The client (e.g. browser plugin or Web3 wallet) that supports x402 will automatically "translate" into a payment hint after capturing this 402 request, and the user will need to click to confirm. The wallet was then paid for the stabilization currency through an efficient L2 network and the server was notified after the transaction had been confirmed. The server validates the receipt and immediately removes the contents from the user。
Figure: x402 Flowchart
Source: Bitget Wallet Collapse
THE WHOLE PROCESS WILL PAY FOR "INTERNALIZATION" AS PART OF THE HTTP PROTOCOL, MAKING IT A PRIMARY INTERACTIVE OF THE BROWSER, LIKE LOADING A PICTURE OR ACCESSING A NON-EXISTENT PAGE. IT IS ESSENTIALLY THE MOST BASIC LAYER OF COMMUNICATION FOR THE INTERNET, WITH A PRIMARY "VALUE SETTLEMENT" FUNCTION THAT HAS REALLY ENRICHED THE BOTTOM INTERNET TRANSMISSION PROTOCOL FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS AT THE APPLICATION LEVEL。
IV. Time is ripe: why now
A reasonable question is: 26 years since the HTTP 402 standard was in existence, why did it not take until today to actually land through x 402? The answer lies in the fact that the "triple elements" of supply, demand and catalyst are already available。
The first is an outbreak on the demand side. The "mechanical economy" represented by AI Agent is rapidly rising. AI requires autonomous, high-frequency access to other AI or API services and data. This machine automates the machine (M2M) + micropayments across the platform, which the traditional credit card system cannot sustain. X402 will pay for the embedded HTTP request, just to meet the demand for this "particle size" of the API call rate。
The second is technological maturity on the supply side. Web3 infrastructure in the world is no longer the same. The "digital cash track" that was missing at the time of the 402 Standard Concept has now been supplemented by Layer2, the high-performance public chain and widely circulated stable currencies. They provide second-rate recognition and very low cost, making primary Internet micropayments economically possible。
Finally, strong drivers are key catalysts. The Coinbase open-source protocol, with Google and Visa on its platform, and infrastructure giants such as Cloudflare co-sponsoring the X402 Foundation, which brings together forces working to promote the x402 as a new type of "open Internet standard", has significantly lowered the integration threshold and accelerated ecological formation。
It was also in this window where technology (supply) and demand (AI) intersected, together with the push of industry giants (catalysts), that x402 seized the opportunity for infrastructure to be ready, moving from a sleeping concept to a realistic application。
v. odd spots and reefs: imaginary space and triple challenges x 402
As described in the White Paper (see figure below): The most direct application of the x402 protocol was to open the door to the "machine economy" for AI Agent. In the future, AI's smart body will undoubtedly be a major participant in the Internet. x402 This original, programmable payment agreement naturally corresponds to the economic needs of M2M. It allows an AI smart body to call another AI API service on its own and automatically pay $0.0x through x402 without human intervention prefilling, significantly reducing the cost of friction between services。
figure: current smart payment process versus x402 by sub-fee
data source: x402 white paper
And more far-reaching is the fact that x402 gives a HTTP request the dual properties of "data transfer" and "value transfer." It's an information protocol that really incorporated the dimensions of "value" in the first days of the Internet, and it's true that there are 20 years of conventional WEB innovation。
At the same time, it may be possible to answer the long-standing pain of Web3: how can the encrypted world empower and change the world? For a long time, the encrypted world has suffered from a lack of real mainstream applications, and x402 is likely to become such a singularity & mdash; — instead of creating a new stove, it is trying to “in” the value settlement capability of Web3 into the vast ecology of Web2 to become the true bridge between the two worlds — — this is also the lowest logic of the entire deal that has been embraced and enthusiasticized by countless people。
however, behind the optimistic vision, the challenge of x402 should not be overlooked。
First of all, there are concerns within the HTTP protocol. HTTP 402 itself is still an "unstandardized" retention code. It is defined as "reserved but not defined " , as shown by MDN Web Docs. This means that it is not fully accepted in the mainstream Web standard, and there is a problem of compatibility of bottom agreements. Thus, the current achievement of x402 relies heavily on the type of "autodefined HTTP head" such as X-PAYMENT, rather than the real standard 402 status code, which casts a shadow over its long-term standardization。
Figure: HTTP 402 status code developer file library indicates compatibility problems
Source: MDN Web Docs
Second, the follow-up attitude of the traditional Internet giants remains to be seen. Although giants such as Google have announced their acceptance of the agreement within the framework of AI, the concept of "backing the platform, point-to-point payments" promoted by x402 is essentially opposite to the Internet giants who now rely on the "wall garden" and payer models. The combination of x402 and AI Agent is more like a "declaration of war" to the traditional Internet ecology & mdash; — the attitude of the giants, whether it is genuinely accepted or temporarily used, remains to be seen。
Last but not least, it is the backlash of speculative bubbles. Since the x402 Agreement itself does not issue any tokens, all associated tokens on the market (e.g. PING) are currently experimental projects meme. Meme fanaticism, while objectively contributing to the heat of x 402, does not forbid people to think: Will the movement once again be plunged into a false boom of "speculation narratives" in order to defeat real technological ideas when the bubble breaks out? This is a dilemma that the encrypted world has always had. (The following figure shows the ecological map of x 402)
Source: X@henloitsjoyce
VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS: VOICE HOLDING, GROWTH
x402 provides an extremely pragmatic solution for AI Agent payments — — it does not require users to abandon existing Internet, but rather tries to complete the critical upgrade of "payment" on the bottom of the bargain. Looking back at the entire development of x402, it is ironic that what really makes x402 "fires" out of the loop is not a brilliant technical idea, but rather a speculative wave of Meme coins in late October. This means that the current number of analyses x 402 subversive voices is "see the bubble first, then push it backwards."。
The current wave of x 402 is more speculative than driven by technological breakthroughs. This raises a central question: is it a milestone in the integration of Web3 and Web2 and a real singularity that drives the Internet into the “value layer”? Or is it just a life-saving straw that the encrypted market accidentally grabbed while looking for the next 100 times more narrative
The answer, still requires time to verify. But in any case, the concept of the original HTTP value layer, as indicated in x 402, has provided a profound exploration direction for Web3 Enabling Web2. This reflection on the shape of the future is much more valuable than the momentous market noise。