Cardano has begun integrating the x402 protocol, which allows autonomous artificial intelligence agents to perform payment transactions on the blockchain without human involvement. The project is being implemented by the Masumi team, which is responsible for developing Cardano’s infrastructure and supporting the new standard.
This is reported by Finway
A New Phase in the Development of the Agent Economy
The x402 standard, initiated by Coinbase and developed in collaboration with web partners, revives the idea of automatic micropayments over the internet. Now, bots and AI agents can independently execute transactions on the Cardano chain, paying for resources and services through APIs, conducting operations with native tokens ADA and USDM, and interacting with each other without intermediaries.
“This is very important for Cardano,” said blockchain co-founder Charles Hoskinson in a post on X.
Masumi has added a trust component to x402: identity, reputation, transparent auditing, and refund mechanisms. This enhances the security and transparency of transactions, paving the way for Cardano’s development of the so-called “agent economy,” where autonomous systems can trade and collaborate directly.
Opportunities for DeFi Automation and Market Prospects
The first Proof-of-Concept is already operational: users can create a test meme coin by paying 2 USDM and a small amount of ADA. Masumi emphasizes that the integration of x402 enables the automation of DeFi protocols, including token swaps, lending, and staking—all without the need for direct user interaction with the smart contract interface.
The need for such innovations for Cardano is particularly relevant, considering the lagging on-chain market: Cardano’s market capitalization as of October 2025 is $23.6 billion, while liquidity in DeFi is only $286.6 million. In comparison, Ethereum and Tron have $163 billion and $79 billion in stablecoins, respectively.
Charles Hoskinson has repeatedly criticized the Cardano Foundation for the slow development of the DeFi sector, despite significant expenditures on promotion—specifically, $15 million allocated for this purpose in 2024, including sponsorship of the FC Barcelona football club.
In October of this year, the Cardano community separately approved an investment of over $33 million in ADA for stablecoin liquidity to develop the DeFi ecosystem.
The Masumi team is already testing the standard on smart contracts and invites users to try out the demo version to enhance functionality.
The integration of x402 has also become part of the updated roadmap of the Cardano Foundation. Among the planned steps are the implementation of standards CIP-0113 and CIP-0143, adaptation of a new payment framework, expansion of support for startups in DeFi and Web3, as well as a 12% increase in the marketing budget in 2026.