Ripple Backs x402 Agent Payment Protocol Alongside Visa and Mastercard
Ripple has joined Visa and Mastercard as a backer of x402, an open agent payment protocol originally built by Coinbase. The protocol is now governed by a consortium of forty companies and processed roughly $24 million across 75 million payments last month, with an average transaction cost of 32 cents.
Ripple has aligned itself with two of the world's largest payment networks, Visa and Mastercard, in backing x402, a machine-to-machine payment protocol designed to facilitate agent and automated payments. The protocol was originally developed by Coinbase, which subsequently handed governance to a broader industry consortium.
Forty companies now participate in governing x402. Recent figures show the network settled approximately $24 million in volume across 75 million individual payments in a single month, placing the average payment size at roughly 32 cents per transaction.
The involvement of Ripple in this consortium signals an intent to position XRP ecosystem infrastructure within the emerging agentic and micropayment economy. Low-cost, high-frequency settlement is a use case that aligns closely with the XRP Ledger's design characteristics.
No specific details were provided in the source material regarding whether XRP or RLUSD are being used as settlement assets within x402 at this stage. That question remains an important variable for assessing the direct on-chain impact for XRP holders.
Key facts
- •Ripple is a backer of the x402 agent payment protocol
- •Visa and Mastercard are also backing x402
- •x402 was built by Coinbase and handed to a 40-company governance consortium
- •The protocol settled approximately $24 million last month
- •75 million payments were processed, averaging 32 cents each
- •No confirmation yet of XRP or RLUSD as settlement assets within x402