Solana has recently become the leading blockchain for x402 payments, reaching a historic peak of approximately $380,000 in daily payment volume. This marks an impressive growth of 750% on a weekly basis.

With this surge, Solana is now the busiest network when it comes to dollar volume throughout its transactions, showcasing how the narrative surrounding AI-agent payments is transitioning into verifiable on-chain activity.

The uptick in x402 payments signifies a turning point for the HTTP-402-related protocol, as stablecoin transfers for pay-per-request transactions are now emerging through facilitators at a rate that seems to reflect genuine demand driven by machines rather than speculative activity.

Instead of engaging in wash trading or airdrop farming, bots and agents have begun utilizing Solana for genuine service purposes.

Source: Solana

While these numbers may be small when compared to overall DeFi and trading activities, they provide a clear indication that actual users, not merely speculative investors, are increasingly opting for recurring payments on Solana.

Solana: Emergence of Genuine On-Chain Usage

What stands out this week is that x402 was designed primarily for backend usage, not for individuals pursuing the latest token trends.

This standard allows APIs, applications, and AI agents to respond with a 402 “Payment Required” code, facilitating a gasless USDC transfer on a blockchain like Solana, ultimately delivering the content or computation requested by the user.

For Solana, establishing itself as the top venue for x402 payments reinforces its proposition that low fees and high throughput are beneficial not just for speculative trading but also for machine-driven micropayments.

This narrative is gaining traction across the entire ecosystem, evidenced by developer guides that detail x402 integrations on Solana and new partnerships, such as those with Kalshi, which aim to boost prediction-market activity and stablecoin transactions on-chain, leveraging the speed of Solana.

Expanding the x402 Ecosystem

The x402 protocol is witnessing adoption from numerous teams in the Web3 space, including protocol extensions that enhance privacy and security, as well as agent frameworks and AI platforms that utilize this technology for autonomous coordination and monetization.

Commenting on this trend, Mars DeFi stated on X, “X402 is no longer a niche curiosity. It’s appearing everywhere, unlocking new revenue opportunities that were previously unattainable without subscriptions, API keys, or credit-based billing.”

The rapid and wide-ranging acceptance of x402 in this context highlights why Solana’s recent growth in x402 payments is significant. If the momentum sustains, x402 transactions could evolve into a consistent source of demand for Solana’s blockspace and USDC liquidity, even as other layer 1 chains pursue their own pieces of the agent-economy infrastructure.

Related Links:

• Why the x402 protocol didn’t fade after the PING hype
• AI agents want to handle your crypto wallet, but is it safe?