In the past six months, if you've been active on Twitter, Telegram, or various KOL groups in the crypto space, you've likely been inundated with the hype surrounding "AI + Crypto." Various "AI agents," "machine traders," and "intelligent economies" have emerged, making it seem like missing out on them would mean missing the next opportunity for financial freedom. But have you noticed that the louder the narrative, the more it indicates that the underlying logic is still not solidified? Last year's "AI Agent craze" is a typical example. At that time, everyone was talking about "how AI traders could beat humans," and six months later, aside from a few automated order scripts that connect to APIs, it was all just a mess.

This year is different; the market has started to stir again. The protagonist this time is called the x402 protocol. It claims to enable AI to truly "spend money": no need for human signatures, no need for wallet plugins, the agent can initiate payments, settlements, and consumption on its own. Doesn’t that sound very sci-fi? But if you really look at the data, you'll find that the real scale of this "AI economy" is only about two hundred million dollars in transaction volume, with eight thousand sellers and one hundred thousand buyers. Meanwhile, the project's market cap is eighty billion. This contrast is very typical of the crypto space and very real. It proves an old rule: in the early stages of a narrative, emotions often run much faster than technology. But precisely because of this, this "AI autonomous economy" experiment is particularly worth our attention.

The logic of x402 is actually not complicated; it is essentially an interface that turns machines into members of the economy. It allows AI to no longer just be an executor but to become an "individual" with a wallet, accounts, and payment capabilities. This sounds like a concept, but in the crypto world, such "concepts" are often signals of structural change. Because once machines can directly pay with stablecoins, humans are removed from the transaction loop. AI no longer needs us to "click confirm" or "authorize signatures"; it can buy computing power, subscribe to APIs, and pay commissions on its own, with all these transactions automatically settled on-chain.

What does this mean? It means machines are beginning to have "consumption capabilities" and "economic identities." This is not just a simple efficiency improvement but a transfer of power structure—AI is no longer just a tool but has become a "subject" participating in the economic system. But problems arise: if machines can truly spend and earn money autonomously, where does that leave "humans"? As supervisors? Partners? Or the ones being replaced? The market, of course, does not care about such philosophical questions. The logic of capital is simple: as long as a new story can be told, funds will flow again. Thus, we see a familiar scene—AI autonomous payments, AI intelligent trading, AI DAOs… each keyword is being reassembled, accompanied by new white papers and new token economic models. But if we think calmly, do we really need so many "AI tokens"? Or is the real breakthrough of this wave just repackaging old concepts into the "fantasy of machine economies"?

To be frank, I do not believe x402 is a scam. On the contrary, it represents a real direction forward. However, just because the direction is right does not mean the timing is right. Historical experience tells us that at the beginning of every technological revolution, bubbles appear before value. The internet was like this, NFTs were like this, and AI is the same. The issue with x402 is not "whether it is useful," but "when it will be useful."

The current ecosystem resembles the early days of Ethereum: developers are enthusiastically building, investors are wildly pricing, but real users have yet to appear. The scenario of "machines buying services themselves" sounds very futuristic, but in reality, even human users find on-chain transactions cumbersome. Can AI truly become a stable payment node? Or will it, like countless "automated trading protocols" before it, be just a fleeting moment? The market is driven by emotions in the short term and supported by structure in the long term. And the current structure is still far from sufficient. x402 needs a complete ecological closed loop: there must be services that AI needs to purchase (supply side), protocols that provide tasks for AI (demand side), and a reliable settlement and auditing system (credit layer). Otherwise, this system is merely simulating an economy rather than truly operating one.

Even so, I still believe it is worth paying attention to. Because in a market lacking new stories, x402 at least offers a future that can be reimagined. It shows us that AI is not just about "generating text and images," but can directly participate in economic activities. This leap itself is impressive enough.

If the first wave of the "AI Agent craze" was a carnival of emotions, then the rise of "AI autonomous payments" feels more like an experiment in the redistribution of trust and power. Machines beginning to have accounts means that for the first time, humans may no longer be a necessary condition for the economic cycle. The significance of this may be far greater than the cryptocurrency market itself.

But don't forget, true revolutions often do not erupt from the center but grow from the margins. Today's x402 may still just be an inconspicuous interface, but it opens up a new imagination: the future internet may no longer be "humans leading machines," but "machines forming collaborations among themselves." At that time, our familiar economic units—companies, teams, DAOs—may all be redefined. Can AI hire AI, forming supply chains between machines, with humans merely as spectators? Does that sound far off? But five years ago, you wouldn't have believed that NFTs would sell for tens of millions of dollars at art auctions.

So rather than asking, "Can we get rich from this wave?" it might be better to ask—are we ready to face a world where machines can spend money on their own? Perhaps that is the true turning point for the industry. Not the moment when prices skyrocket, but when you realize that "the creators of wealth" are slowly slipping from human hands into the realm of code.

Related: Prediction platform Polymarket plans to restart the U.S. market by the end of November.

Original article: “AI Learns to ‘Pay’: Crypto New Hotspot x402 Hits $8 Billion Market Cap, Autonomous Machine Economy Reshaping Industry Narratives”

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