What x402 Actually Means for the Future of Agentic Commerce

In Episode 47 of Chain Reactions, we sit down with Pontus, GTM Lead at Corbits and longtime Solana ecosystem builder, to break down what x402 actually is, why it matters, and how agents are about to reshape commerce as we know it.Pontus has been deep in Web3 since 2016, helped build one of the original NFT marketplaces on Solana (Holoplex), spent time with the Bonk ecosystem team, and is now building open source infrastructure for agentic payments.In this episode, we get into:The history of HTTP 402 and why crypto finally makes it viableHow Corbits and the FairMeter framework are positioning for a multi-chain, multi-standard futureWhy agents need wallets, not bank accounts, and what that unlocksThe real state of x402 adoption (spoiler: half of it is wash trading)How to think about marketing to agents, not just humansWhy expertise becomes more valuable when data access is universalWhether you're a founder exploring agentic infrastructure or a marketer trying to understand where attention is headed, this one is packed with signal.Timestamps00:00 - Intro and New Year vibes02:00 - Pontus's Web3 origin story: from university crypto club to Solana NFTs05:00 - Building Holoplex and the pivot to enterprise digital asset infrastructure07:00 - Time at Bonk and the pivot to agents09:00 - What is Corbits and the FairMeter framework?12:00 - The HTTP 402 history lesson: why payments were baked into the internet from day one15:00 - What X402 actually is and how it works18:00 - Current adoption numbers: what's real vs. wash trading21:00 - Why crypto solves three critical problems for agents: microtransactions, wallets, and instant finality25:00 - Will Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok integrate X402?28:00 - Why betting on one standard is risky32:00 - Developer GTM: how Corbits is approaching adoption36:00 - Marketing to agents, not just humans40:00 - The one-click API deploy tool and what's coming next45:00 - Why expertise becomes more valuable when data is commoditized50:00 - Subscriptions, credits, and new payment schemas for agents55:00 - Rapid Fire: underrated tactics, overrated trends, and leaving group chatsShow Notes & Mentions🔗 Corbits - Agentic commerce infrastructure🧵 Pontus on X🧵 Corbits on X📦 FareMeter - Open source framework for agentic commerce📊 Artemis - x402 metrics and reports🔍 x402 Scan - x402 resource discovery🐕 Bonk - Solana's favorite meme coin💸 Decentralised - Payments in the Agentic Economy