Block adds Bitcoin Lightning support to x402 payment protocol

Block announced that it has contributed Bitcoin Lightning support to the x402 open payment protocol, a standard governed by the Linux Foundation that enables AI agents and web services to pay automatically for APIs and digital services.

Integration details

The contribution was recorded in a repository commit on September 23, which added “exact Lightning on lnbtc” using the lnbtc network identifier specification. This makes Lightning a selectable settlement option alongside existing methods such as stablecoins.

Why Lightning?

Block highlighted Lightning’s suitability for low‑cost, fast‑settlement and high‑volume micro‑payments, which it expects to be common in autonomous agent commerce. The company did not release specific usage metrics for the new Lightning integration.

x402 activity snapshot

According to the x402 Foundation, the protocol processed 75.41 million transactions with a total volume of $24.24 million over the most recent 30‑day period. These figures represent the protocol as a whole and are not broken out by payment method.

Broader ecosystem

x402, originally created by Coinbase, uses HTTP 402 “Payment Required” responses to embed payment instructions in standard web requests. The protocol is network‑agnostic, allowing additions such as Bitcoin Lightning, USDC stablecoins, Cardano, Casper, and the XRP Ledger. Recent integrations include AI‑agent payment support on Cardano’s test environment, autonomous payment facilitators on Casper mainnet, and over one million XRP Ledger‑based x402 transactions reported earlier this year.

Block’s ongoing role

Block plans to continue contributing to Lightning support, participate in x402 Foundation working groups, and develop further agentic‑commerce tools that leverage the standard. No timeline was provided for bringing Lightning‑enabled x402 payments into Block’s consumer products such as Square or Cash App.