Linux Launches x402 Foundation for Agentic Payments With Ripple Among Founding Members

The Linux Foundation is launching the x402 Foundation to oversee the x402 protocol, an open standard for internet-native payments over HTTP.  The announcement follows Coinbase’s completion of the protocol, which will now be under the new foundation’s control.

According to the announcement, the protocol will serve as a universal standard embedding payment capabilities directly into web interactions. This will allow APIs, AI agents, and applications to process financial transactions automatically.

Presently, the Internet payment system cannot do this as it was designed for human use. However, the x402 standard will enable this, creating the payments layer for agentic AI.

40 Firms, Including Ripple, Circle, and Others, Join as Premier Members

Following the launch of the x402 Foundation, 40 firms have been confirmed as premier members. Founding members include  Amazon Web Services, Google, Solana Foundation, Circle, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Ripple.

With the founding members spanning industries such as cloud infrastructure, payments, and finance, the foundation is focused on ensuring the standard remains open and interoperable.

According to the Linux Foundation, it will allow members to collaborate on developing the protocol while the foundation maintains neutral governance.

“This open structure ensures that payments remain highly secure and adaptable, supporting multiple payment types, from traditional cards to stablecoins, without vendor lock-in,” it said..

Ripple Doubles Down on Agentic AI Payments

Meanwhile, Ripple stated that it supports x402 on the XRP Ledger. This means that AI agents can transact using XRP and RLUSD.

For Ripple, its involvement in the x402 Foundation aligns with a broader push into agentic AI payments, which has been ongoing for a while. Ripple released the XRPL AI Starter Kit in June while joining Mastercard’s agent payment network as one of the 30 partners.

Unsurprisingly, AI agents account for a sizable percentage of transactions on the XRPL network. Total AI agent transactions on the network recently passed 1.2 million, a signal of growing adoption.

However, it is not the only firm pushing for Agentic AI payments, with several crypto firms and traditional institutions also working on similar goals. XRPL is lagging behind Coinbase’s Base, which has almost 120 million x402 payments, while Solana also has 35 million.

The concerted efforts around AI agent payments are not surprising, given that McKinsey has projected they could reach $5 trillion by 2030. With its massive potential, every player is now trying to stake a claim.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. Digital assets, blockchain infrastructure projects, and AI-related technologies remain subject to technological, regulatory, and market risks. Readers should conduct their own research before making financial or business decisions.