ERC-7715 and the agent payment stack · x402 + AP2 + 4337/7702 coordination
Wiki route
This entry sits under AI Agent payment protocols overview · a 7-protocol survey. Read it against payments index for peer / contrast context and systems index for the broader system / regulatory boundary.
Key facts
- x402 handles the payment handshake at the HTTP layer (driven by Cloudflare/Coinbase/AWS)
- AP2 / MPP / ACP handle the negotiation metadata between agents
- ERC-7715 handles authorization from wallet to agent
- ERC-4337 / 7702 provide the foundation for programmable wallets
- Major players: MetaMask Snaps / Coinbase Smart Wallet / Safe / Privy / Pimlico / ZeroDev
Mechanism / How it works
4-layer stack architecture:
| Layer | Protocol | Role |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP | x402 | The API returns 402 + payment instructions · the client retries after completing payment |
| Agent negotiation | AP2 / MPP / ACP / A2A | mandate / intent metadata standards |
| Wallet authorization | ERC-7715 | Grants scoped permission to the agent · one authorization, multiple uses |
| Wallet foundation | ERC-4337 / 7702 | Programmable wallets (see [[systems/erc-4337-overview |
Typical agent auto-payment flow:
- The user authorizes the agent “may pay up to $5 per day to the vercel.com API” (7715 scoped permission)
- The agent calls the Vercel API · Vercel returns HTTP 402 + USDC payment instructions (x402)
- The agent automatically draws $0.50 USDC from the wallet and settles (within 7715 scope · no user signature needed)
- Vercel verifies the payment · returns the API response
- The user confirms in the wallet UI that a cumulative $X.XX has been paid to Vercel that day · the permission can be revoked at any time
Potential of Stripe Privy integration: Stripe is already connected to ERC-4337 embedded wallet adoption via Privy (already acquired). Once Stripe + Privy + 7715 + AP2 are integrated · any SaaS can accept auto-payment from an agent · no credit-card number, no OAuth, no subscription management needed — migrating the SaaS billing layer from Stripe Billing (card-based) to on-chain permission (address + scope-based). For details see Stripe five-layer Trojan horse.
Division of labor among major players:
- MetaMask Snaps: implements 7715 in 2025 · EOA + 7702 dual mode
- Coinbase Smart Wallet: native support · integrated with the Coinbase Agent SDK
- Safe{Core}: implemented in Module form · institutional multi-sig + sub-permissions
- Privy: integrates 7715 + AP2 · Stripe agent-payment scenarios
- Pimlico / ZeroDev: provide 7715 ↔ 4337 bundler middleware
- Tempo / Arc: potential adopters — the agent economy is the core narrative
- JPM Kinexys: not participating — a permissioned network · its permission model uses a proprietary standard
Origin & evolution
The concept of the agent payment stack took shape gradually over 2024-2025 — initially each protocol (x402 / AP2 / 7715) was driven by a separate team, but deliberate coordination began from the second half of 2025 . The “native agent payment” demo that Coinbase Smart Wallet unveiled in 2025 was the decisive proof-of-concept event, demonstrating the end-to-end operation of the 4-layer stack.
Stripe’s acquisition of Privy (2024) is the first case of a Web2 payment giant betting explicitly on the on-chain permission model. The first production-grade agent SaaS integration cases are expected to appear over 2026-2027 .
Related
- Wiki Index
- ERC-7715 Overview
- AP2 Overview
- ERC-4337
- ERC-7702
Sources
- Coinbase Smart Wallet agent payment demo(2025)
- ERC-7715 (Request Permissions from Wallets) — https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7715