Payment Rails
Infrastructure for processing and settling digital asset transactions.
What is Payment Rails?
Payment rails refer to the underlying systems or networks that facilitate the transfer and settlement of digital assets or fiat payments. In the x402 protocol, payment rails can include blockchain networks (e.g., Base blockchain for stablecoins) or traditional financial systems (e.g., credit cards). The protocol’s flexibility allows servers to support multiple rails, enabling seamless transactions for use cases like deferred payments or batch settlements in pay-per-crawl scenarios.
Related Terms
Proof of Work
Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus algorithm where nodes (miners) solve complex cryptographic puzzles to validate transactions and add new blocks to a blockchain.
Gas Limit of a Transaction
The maximum amount of gas a user is willing to spend on an Ethereum transaction.
Agentic Commerce
Commerce driven by autonomous agents using digital assets for transactions.
BitPay
A digital asset payment processor enabling merchants to accept stablecoins like USDC and USDT, with stablecoins comprising nearly 40% of its 2025 payment volume.
Decentralization
Decentralization is the distribution of control, authority, and operations across a network of nodes in a blockchain, eliminating the need for a central authority.
Active Management Burden
The ongoing requirement for liquidity providers to monitor and adjust positions in DeFi to optimize returns and mitigate risks.