HTTP 402: The Unsolved Primitive That Was Always Meant for AI Agents

HTTP 402: The Unsolved Primitive That Was Always Meant for AI Agents In 1996, the HTTP specification included a status code that nobody used. Code 402: Payment Required. The RFC authors noted it was reserved for future use, presumably for micropayment systems. Then the internet moved on. That changed when AI agents arrived. In the last 30 days, the x402 protocol processed 75.41M transactions and moved $24.24M in volume across 94,000 buyers and 22,000 sellers. A status code that gathered dust for 28 years is now the backbone of autonomous agent commerce.