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A glossary of the agentic-commerce stack — what it is, how it works, and how AgentCash fits in.
MCP Payments: Paid Tools for AI Agents
MCP payments are per-call, stablecoin-settled charges attached to tools exposed through the Model Context Protocol, so an AI agent can pay for a tool invocation with no API keys or vendor signup.
Read definitionPay-Per-Call APIs: Why AI Agents Need Them
A pay-per-call API charges for each individual request instead of a subscription or per-seat plan. Cost scales linearly with usage, which fits AI agents that call services in unpredictable bursts.
Read definitionPayments for AI Agents: How They Work
Payments for AI agents are the protocols and infrastructure that let autonomous software spend money on API calls without a human. The agent holds a balance, discovers a price, and pays per call.
Read definitionWhat Are API Micropayments?
API micropayments are sub-dollar payments settled per individual API call, from fractions of a cent to under a dollar, on low-cost chains. They are what card rails cannot do below a dollar.
Read definitionWhat Is Agentic Commerce? A Practitioner's Guide
Agentic commerce is economic activity where AI agents discover, price, and pay for digital services on their own, no human checkout. The buyer is software and settlement is on-chain in stablecoins.
Read definitionWhat Is an AI Agent Wallet?
An AI agent wallet is a developer-controlled USDC wallet an autonomous agent uses to pay for APIs, tools, and services on its own, within spending limits you set. No UI, no confirmation dialogs.
Read definitionWhat Is x402? The HTTP Payment Protocol for AI Agents
x402 is an open protocol that turns the dormant HTTP 402 status code into a real payment handshake, so an AI agent can pay for an API call in USDC in one round-trip, with no keys and no signup.
Read definitionLooking for a specific API?
Browse the directory of payment-protected APIs your AI agent can call through AgentCash.
API Directory for AI Agents →