programmable-money-x402

# programmable-money-x402

> **Encode Club Programmable Money Hackathon** — Circle × Arc  
> *Track: Agentic Economy — AI agents that hold wallets, pay and transact autonomously in USDC*
> **Repo (public):** https://github.com/Gentech-Labs/programmable-money-x402

## The Problem

AI agents need to pay for APIs, compute, and data — but there's no standard way to do it programmatically. Every integration means manual API keys, subscriptions, or custom payment flows. Real agent autonomy requires programmable money.

## The Solution

**x402 on Arc** — a payment gateway that bridges Circle's USDC infrastructure with the HTTP 402 Payment Required standard:

1. An agent calls an API → gets **HTTP 402** with payment requirements
2. The agent pays **USDC on Arc** (sub-second settlement, USDC fees)
3. Access is granted — no API keys, no signups, no human in the loop

This is **programmable money for the agent economy**.

## Architecture

```
Agent → HTTP Request → x402 Middleware → HTTP 402 + Arc USDC invoice
           ↓                                        ↓
    Access Granted  ←  Payment Verified  ←  Agent pays USDC on Arc
```

## Track Focus

**Agentic Economy** — AI agents hold wallets on Arc, pay for services in USDC autonomously, using Circle's stablecoin-native L1 for sub-second settlement.

## Components

- **x402 Gateway** — middleware that drops into any API, handles 402 → payment → access
- **Arc Settlement Layer** — USDC transfers via Circle's infrastructure on Arc
- **Agent SDK** — one function call for any agent to pay x402 APIs
- **Playground** — test transactions, manage wallets, see the flow live

## Why Arc + Circle

Arc is built for this — USDC as the native fee token, sub-second finality, and programmable wallet infrastructure. x402 on Arc means agents settle payments in the same block they're requested.

## Deployment (LIVE on Arc testnet)

**ArcAgentWallet.sol** — autonomous agent wallet contract — **deployed and verified on-chain**:

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Network** | Arc testnet (chain ID `5042002`) |
| **Contract** | `0x79ec00506db1ea123752084ebf1d4f26e0655287` |
| **Deploy tx** | `0x3b6085b19997ff34a706cb0c746f29f7cba8773a9e8b930da44e93f1dc7f6d85` |
| **Block** | 55,009,063 |
| **Deployer** | `0xB6c0C5859Df4fA84bD17727e468e297006a05a3c` (test wallet, funded with faucet USDC) |
| **Status** | ✅ Success (gas used 1,757,302) |
| **Runtime bytecode** | 7,880 bytes verified on-chain |
| **Explorer** | https://testnet.arcscan.app/tx/0x3b6085b19997ff34a706cb0c746f29f7cba8773a9e8b930da44e93f1dc7f6d85 |

**What the deployed contract does:** the agent wallet autonomously holds USDC, can be funded by any party, and executes agent-initiated transfers with a safety timeout — programmable money for agents, live on Circle's Arc L1.

## Team

**Jordan Jones** — GenTech Labs

## Timeline

| Week | Milestone |
|------|-----------|
| Week 1 | ✅ Project setup, architecture defined |
| Week 2 | ✅ x402 gateway + Arc/Circle integration |
| Week 3 | ✅ Agent SDK + end-to-end flow |
| Week 4 | ✅ **MVP deployed on Arc testnet** (Aug 2) — demo, video, submission |