An experiment that paid 6,478 x402-enabled API endpoints with real USDC found that roughly six in ten endpoints that requested payment actually delivered, according to a report publicized by Roundtable.
Paid API test · x402 · USDC
Only about six in ten paid x402 endpoints delivered what they charged for
A single buyer paid every listed endpoint in USDC and recorded whether the service returned what it had charged for. The gap between payment requests and delivered services is substantial.
6,478
Paid API endpoints tested in the experiment
~60%
Endpoints that requested payment and actually delivered
464
Endpoints in the report's most prominent failure category (headline figure, not itemized)
Delivered vs. not delivered, out of 10 paid requests
Each block is roughly one in ten requests, based on the approximate six-in-ten rate.
Takeaway: four in ten paid requests did not return the service that was charged for.
How a paid request works
1. Request
→
2. 402 response
→
3. Pay in USDC
→
4. Delivery?
Why it matters
Autonomous agents that pay automatically can lose money.
Failures may happen silently unless delivery is verified.
The result fuels demand for receipts, escrow, and delivery checks.
Limits of the test
One buyer, so it cannot establish broad rates.
Causes (malicious sellers, misconfiguration, outages) are unknown.
Retries and refund requests are not reported.
What to watch
The 60 percent figure will carry weight only if sellers improve fulfillment and independent groups replicate the test.
Seller fulfillment
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