Cardano Joins x402 Payment Standard for AI Agent Payments

Cardano has integrated its ADA token and Cardano Native Tokens (CNT) into the x402 payment standard, enabling AI agents to pay for online services without traditional accounts or API keys.

The integration allows developers to build applications that can settle payments on-chain using the HTTP 402 Payment Required status code. This facilitates machine-to-machine payments between AI agents and online services.

The Cardano Foundation's x402 implementation includes client, server, and facilitator components, supporting TypeScript for initial developer releases with Python support planned for later. The integration also highlights Masumi, a Cardano protocol designed for agent identity, discovery, and payments, which provides escrowed payment flows within x402.