Injective has joined the x402 Foundation as a core member, bringing its sub-second transaction finality to a payment protocol backed by AWS, Google, Visa and Mastercard. The x402 protocol is live on Injective, enabling USDC payments to settle in a single block that takes roughly 650 milliseconds to finalize. Initially developed by Coinbase, x402 uses HTTP 402, the web status code reserved for Payment Required, to let AI agents and applications pay for services directly through standard web requests. The x402 Foundation began operations on July 14, 2025, under the governance of the Linux Foundation, with approximately 40 member organizations, including AWS, Google, Visa, Mastercard, NEAR Foundation and Polygon Labs. Its goal is to standardize programmatic, internet-native payments for machine-to-machine commerce, allowing services to charge per request without accounts, API keys or subscriptions. Injective has processed more than 2.9 billion on-chain transactions, while median fees are around $0.0001, making one million transactions cost about $100. Its EVM-compatible environment supports Ethereum development tools, and middleware including @injectivelabs/x402 connects pay-per-request services to the network. The collaboration gives Injective a direct role in x402’s technical development and governance and positions the network for potential AI-driven micropayment activity, although the effect on INJ’s price remains uncertain. x402 is intended to work with multiple payment infrastructures, including traditional financial systems, while blockchain networks may offer speed, transparency and programmability for some use cases.