Linux Foundation launches x402 Foundation with 40 members

The Linux Foundation has launched the x402 Foundation and completed Coinbase's contribution of the x402 protocol. The group begins operations with 40 member organisations.

The foundation will oversee x402, a payment standard designed to let AI agents, application programming interfaces and software applications send and receive payments over HTTP. Its members span payments, finance, cloud computing and blockchain networks.

Premier members include Adyen, AWS, American Express, Circle, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Fiserv, Google, Mastercard, MoonPay, Ripple, Shopify, Stripe and Visa. Other members include blockchain and financial technology groups such as Fireblocks, Polygon Labs, Quant Network and zerohash. Associate members include the Cardano Foundation and BSV Association.

Coinbase created the protocol and has now transferred it to the foundation under the Linux Foundation's governance model. The goal is to develop the standard through a vendor-neutral process rather than under the control of a single company.

The initiative reflects a broader effort by payment and technology groups to prepare for software agents that can carry out commercial tasks for users and businesses. Those tasks can include paying for application access, purchasing computing resources, and completing transactions tied to online services.

Under the proposed model, payments become part of a web request-and-response flow, allowing one program to pay another directly. The protocol is intended to support multiple payment methods, including cards and stablecoins.

Jim Zemlin, Chief Executive Officer of the Linux Foundation, described the launch as a step towards an open standard for internet payments. "AI agents and automated systems are becoming active participants in the global economy, yet they have lacked a native, secure way to transact," Zemlin said.

"The operational launch of the x402 Foundation marks a vital milestone in establishing an open, community-governed standard for payments over HTTP. By bringing together leading companies across finance, technology and more, we're ensuring that the payment layer of the internet remains neutral, highly interoperable and ready to support digital commerce," he added.

Industry backing

The member list shows support from established card networks and merchant acquirers alongside digital asset companies and infrastructure providers. That mix suggests companies across the payments market want influence over how machine-to-machine transactions are defined if AI-driven commerce grows.

Adyen said the structure of any such standard will matter for merchant control. "As AI agents take on more of the transaction lifecycle, the infrastructure behind them has to be built for control, interoperability, and trust from day one. We are excited to work with the x402 Foundation to shape open standards that let agents transact across the web while ensuring merchants can transact on their own terms," Adams said.

American Express also pointed to the value of common technical rules. "With the x402 Foundation now formally launched, American Express is pleased to continue supporting open, interoperable standards for internet-native payments. Our support reflects our longstanding commitment to helping advance digital commerce with trust and security at the center," Gebb said.

AWS framed the issue around software agents becoming direct participants in commerce. "AI agents are becoming first-class participants in digital commerce, and they need a payments layer as open and interoperable as the internet itself. The x402 Foundation embodies that principle for the agentic era, proposing an open protocol for AI agents to transact programmatically, built on what customers want now, and extensible to what customers will need in the future," Rice said.

Protocol control

For Coinbase, the contribution shifts the protocol from an internal project to a shared industry asset. Lincoln Murr, Head of AI Product at Coinbase, linked the move to trust and wider adoption.

"x402 was started at Coinbase to solve a real problem - AI agents had no native, interoperable way to pay for the things they needed to do. Moving the protocol to the Linux Foundation, with dozens of members spanning every corner of internet payments and infrastructure, is how open technology earns lasting trust across an industry. We look forward to building out x402 further with the community," Murr said.

Cloudflare highlighted the size of the initial membership base as evidence of demand for a standardised payment layer. "Standards thrive when the industry actually shows up to build them. The incredible momentum behind this operational launch - and the 40 members now on board - proves how urgent a secure, native payment layer has become. Cloudflare is thrilled to welcome our new peers to the x402 Foundation. Together, we're building the trusted, open architecture that will let agents transact at Internet scale," Cohen said.

Some members are also using the launch to promote their own payment rails within a common framework. Circle pointed to the use of USDC for low-cost settlement, while Ripple said it is supporting x402 on the XRP Ledger with XRP and RLUSD.

Card network groups also signalled that they see a role for existing payment systems in this emerging area. Mastercard said internet-native payments for AI agents will need a secure and interoperable foundation similar to current digital commerce, while Visa said future commerce will depend on interoperability across platforms, networks and payment types.

The foundation's membership has grown since its planned launch was outlined earlier in the year, and the breadth of the signatories indicates that companies are competing to help set the rules for how software agents transact online. "Commerce will not run on a single agent, protocol, or payment method. The future will be built on interoperability. By supporting the x402 Foundation, Visa is helping advance an ecosystem where agents can transact securely across platforms, networks, and payment types," Birwadker said.