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[return to "Y Combinator will let founders receive funds in stablecoins"]
1. arbol+aY1[view] [source] 2026-02-04 07:27:04
>>shscs9+(OP)
I think people are maybe missing a key development with stable coins recently. They can be used by AI agents to pay for access to protected API endpoints or websites. The http 402 status endpoint is finally being utilised, years after it's creation. Ycombinator has a lot of AI based startups and they are given unlimited tokens.

All crypto/browser automation/bot detection companies are jumping on the bandwagon:

https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/x402/core-concepts/http-402

https://docs.browserbase.com/integrations/x402/introduction

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/...

https://docs.datadome.co/docs/monetize-policy

In a world without search engines, LLM chat bots will need to be held to account for the server resources they're using. Seems like a lot of companies are betting on them paying for access or acting as AI shopping agents.

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2. utopia+F02[view] [source] 2026-02-04 07:48:25
>>arbol+aY1
I fail to see the use case where it's useful. I understand how it works and what it might enable but typically I want to cherry pick my API because I trust the source and their pricing (as here we are covering only paid for services).

What situations do you imagine where one :

- changes frequently and/or covers a LOT of APIs

- requires little to no budget oversight

- requires little to no quality oversight

?

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3. nemild+Cv3[view] [source] 2026-02-04 17:16:00
>>utopia+F02
(On the small team that helped create x402)

To start, it's great for micropayments globally. There are examples where you want an API once and not again, and you don't want to create an account or link a credit card.

Cloudflare was one of our earliest partners, and they saw a critical need for it for web scraping by AI.

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4. utopia+vR5[view] [source] 2026-02-05 09:17:34
>>nemild+Cv3
> great for micropayments globally

My personal Website supported WebMonetization (details https://webmonetization.org ) for more than 5 years already so no need to convince me about that, I agree. I also believe one could just as easily have a funding.md with an IBAN and structured communication to make the equivalent.

Anyway that's beside the point, what I still don't get is a use case without or without AI according to the constraints I listed before.

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