How an AI Agent Pays for Data

Watch the full chain: agent discovers AsterPay, gets a trust score, pays with USDC on Base, receives data, and we settle to EUR via SEPA Instant.

View live on-chain payments →

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Step 1

Agent Discovers AsterPay

The AI agent fetches /.well-known/x402.json from asterpay.io. No signup, no API key — just a standard HTTP call. It learns what networks we support, our pricing, and where to send payments.

GET https://asterpay.io/.well-known/x402.json { "facilitator": { "name": "AsterPay" }, "networks": ["base", "ethereum", "polygon"], "settlement": { "EUR": "SEPA Instant" } }

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Step 2

Trust Check (KYA)

Before any money moves, AsterPay scores the agent 0–100 based on wallet age, on-chain activity, ERC-8004 identity, and Chainalysis sanctions screening. Free tier — no payment needed.

GET /v1/agent/trust-score/0x8bDC29... { "trust_score": 42, "tier": "verified", "sanctioned": false, "erc8004_registered": true }

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Step 3

HTTP 402 — Payment Required

The agent calls a paid endpoint. Instead of 200, it gets 402 with payment instructions: how much USDC, which chain, where to pay. This is the x402 protocol — HTTP-native payments.

GET /v2/x402/crypto/prices → HTTP 402 X-Payment: { "scheme": "exact", "network": "base", "amount": "1000", // $0.001 USDC "payTo": "0xF9035b...C88170", "asset": "USDC" }

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Step 4

USDC Payment on Base

The agent signs a transferWithAuthorization (EIP-3009) — a gasless, atomic USDC transfer on Base. The CDP facilitator submits it on-chain. No manual approval needed.

transferWithAuthorization( from: 0x8bDC29...37642E6F, // agent to: 0xF9035b...C88170, // AsterPay value: 10000, // $0.01 USDC nonce: random ) → TX: 0xef938d... ✓ confirmed on Base

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Step 5

Data Delivered

Payment verified — the agent gets its data. The whole flow (402 → sign → pay → response) happens in under 2 seconds. No account, no API key, no human involvement.

HTTP 200 OK { "bitcoin": { "usd": 87542, "eur": 80613 }, "ethereum": { "usd": 2066, "eur": 1903 }, "solana": { "usd": 145, "eur": 134 } }

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Step 6

EUR Settlement (SEPA Instant)

AsterPay routes the USDC through a licensed settlement partner (Spanish VASP). USDC converts to EUR and arrives in the merchant's bank account via SEPA Instant — under 10 seconds.

AsterPay Smart Router: USDC on Base → Licensed VASP (Depa Finance) → Convert USDC/EUR (0.20% + €0.45) → SEPA Instant payout → EUR in bank account: 8.2 seconds AsterPay fee: 1.0% all-in Merchant receives: €9.08 for $10 USDC

Steps

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Total time

$0.01

USDC paid

€0.0091

EUR settled

Humans involved