Lightning Labs Unveils L402 Bitcoin Proxy Payment Protocol Website

Lightning Labs has launched a dedicated website for its L402 Bitcoin proxy payment protocol. According to The Defiant, this new addition allows AI agents to make payments in Bitcoin without human intervention or intermediaries. The company described the protocol as a mechanism for machine-to-machine commerce on Lightning.

L402 reuses the HTTP 402 status code and is already implemented in Aperture, used by non-custodial exchange service Lightning Loop. When an AI agent requests payment, the server returns a 402 status with verification headers containing a token and a Lightning invoice.

The client can then access the interface using the token and payment preimage, allowing the server to verify without querying the payment database. This streamlines the process for AI agents making payments in Bitcoin.