Linux Foundation Formally Launches x402 Foundation as 40-Member Coalition Aims to Standardize Internet Payments #

The Linux Foundation has completed the operational launch of the x402 Foundation, a new open-governance body formed to steward the x402 protocol, a standard designed to embed payments natively into the web’s HTTP infrastructure. The announcement, made on July 14, came alongside confirmation that Coinbase has formally transferred the protocol to the foundation, placing it under vendor-neutral control for the first time.

The x402 protocol takes its name from HTTP’s long-dormant “402 Payment Required” status code and is designed to allow AI agents, APIs, and software applications to send and receive payments as seamlessly as they currently exchange data. According to the foundation, the standard supports payment types from conventional card transactions to stablecoins, with the goal of avoiding lock-in to any single payment rail or technology provider.

Since the Linux Foundation first signalled its intention to launch the initiative in April, 40 organisations have signed up as members. Premier members span finance, cloud, and blockchain infrastructure and include Adyen, Amazon Web Services, American Express, Circle, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Fiserv, Google, Mastercard, MoonPay, Ripple, Shopify, Solana Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, Stripe, and Visa. General members include Fireblocks, KakaoPay, Polygon Labs, Quant Network, NEAR Foundation, LayerZero Labs, and zerohash, among others.

Member companies are already positioning their own infrastructure to benefit from the standard. Circle pointed to USDC as a low-cost settlement option within the x402 framework, while Ripple said it is extending support to the XRP Ledger using both XRP and its RLUSD stablecoin. Card networks, meanwhile, framed the initiative in terms of extending current commerce infrastructure into the agentic era. Mastercard stressed that AI-driven transactions would require the same trusted, secure foundations as today’s digital payments, and Visa argued that future commerce will depend on interoperability across platforms, networks, and payment methods.

The project addresses the rapid growth of AI agents capable of autonomously executing commercial tasks on behalf of users and businesses, including booking services, purchasing compute time, and calling paid APIs. Coinbase’s Head of AI Product, Lincoln Murr, noted that the protocol was originally built to address a concrete gap: AI agents had no native, interoperable way to pay for the things they needed to do. Moving it to neutral governance, he said, is how open technologies earn lasting industry trust.

The x402 Foundation will operate under the Linux Foundation’s established governance model. Developers, financial institutions, and cloud providers can shape the protocol’s roadmap, and no single member controls its direction.

Source: PR Newswire