A-word "agentic payments" are being hailed as the next wave of internet commerce where AI agents pay each other instead of humans. The idea is to embed payments via stablecoins directly into the internet’s communication layer to enable software companies to charge other software automatically. However, existing payment processors are often unable to onboard these small payments due to their lack of technical expertise and high processing fees. The project x402, supported by a consortium including Coinbase, aims to solve this issue using stablecoins. However the technology is still early and hasn't yet translated into onchain use yet. Onchain analysis suggests that roughly half of observed x402 transactions reflect artificial activity rather than genuine commerce. The network has recorded some notable bursts of activity, including a day in February that logged 3.8 million transactions and roughly $2 million in volume.