Linux Foundation Unveils Open Governance for x402 Payment Protocol

The Linux Foundation has launched the x402 Foundation, a new open governance structure for Coinbase's internet-native payment protocol. This move brings together 40 organizations from the financial, technology, and blockchain sectors to shape the technical development of x402 without any one company or blockchain holding control.

The x402 protocol embeds payments inside normal HTTP interactions, allowing developers, payment companies, and financial institutions to seamlessly integrate payments into their applications. This can support a range of payment methods from traditional cards to stablecoins.

Premier members of the x402 Foundation include AWS, Google, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, Adyen, Fiserv, Shopify, Circle, Coinbase, Cloudflare, MoonPay, Ripple, Monad Foundation, Solana Foundation, and Stellar Development Foundation. Other notable members include NEAR Foundation, Fireblocks, Injective, and KakaoPay.

Ripple has already started supporting x402 payments using XRP and RLUSD, while Circle is positioning USDC as a settlement asset for agent-to-API transactions. Solana Foundation is working on permissionless payment rails capable of handling automated, pay-per-request activity.