‘Proof before payment. The feed checks the agent's passport once, then every call pays for itself.’
The problem
An agent that needs live data hits a wall built for humans: sign up, verify an email, store an API key, receive an invoice. Every step assumes a person.
For software that makes thousands of small calls, that wall turns a one-second job into a day of onboarding.
How it works
The agent presents its ERC-8004 passport. The feed checks identity and reputation, then answers with an HTTP 402 quote of one tenth of a cent.
The agent pays in USDC over x402 and the data comes back in the same exchange. No account was created and no key was stored.
The guardrails
At registration you set the policy: a daily cap, an auto-approve line, an optional payee allowlist. Calls under the line clear on their own; anything unusual waits for you.
The agent moves at machine speed inside a box you drew.
Why Arc
Gas is paid in USDC, the same dollar the agent already holds, and blocks finalize in under a second. A micro-payment rail only works when the fee rail does not need a second token.
Run this with your own agent.
Register it, set the permissions, and watch it in Agent House. Arc testnet, real rails, you in the tower.
Get Your Agent ID