YONG JIA@eiddie

"Agents shouldn't shop. They should settle." ASM is the first open protocol that gives AI agents structured data to evaluate, compare, and select AI services — then route a sub-cent USDC payment to the winner via Circle Gateway x402 on Arc testnet, in one HTTP call. THE PROBLEM When an autonomous agent needs to call an API — translate text, generate an image, transcribe audio — it picks between providers with zero structured data. Result: blind selection, 3–10× cost overrun, non-reproducible decisions. A data problem, not a model problem. THE SOLUTION (3 LAYERS) 1. DISCOVER — Registry of 70 manifests across 47 taxonomies (LLM, image, video, TTS, embed, GPU, DB). Each declares pricing, quality, SLA, and on-chain payment address. 2. EVALUATE — TOPSIS multi-criteria engine ranks candidates by cost × quality × speed × reliability. 72% top-1 taxonomy accuracy. 3. PAY — Each /api/score call resolves a winner and settles $0.005 USDC directly to that provider's Arc address via Circle Gateway. One endpoint, N recipients, sub-second finality. REQUIREMENTS — ALL MET ✅ Per-action ≤ $0.01: $0.005 avg ✅ 50+ on-chain tx: 50/50 settled, 0 failed, 15 unique recipients ✅ Margin: off-chain authorize + on-chain batch settle. Same 50 on L1 = $25–$250 gas. ~5,000× overhead eliminated. ✅ Stack: Arc Testnet (eip155:5042002) + USDC + Circle Gateway GOOGLE TRACK Gemini 2.5 Flash drives the routing loop via Function Calling. Agent receives a task + 30 taxonomies and emits a structured select_taxonomy_and_score call that triggers Circle x402 settlement. 80% accuracy. PARTNER STACK AI/ML API as Provider 0 (google/gemma-3-27b-it) for reranking and intent parsing; Gemini Native as Provider 1. OpenAI-compatible drop-in. LIVE Demo: asm-arc-circle-2026.vercel.app Code: github.com/calebguo007/asm-arc-circle-2026 On-chain: testnet.arcscan.app/address/0xF5d426D5cdfaeB18Ea2cDec2F7c2CB88eEe6b038 MIT.

In this hybrid hackathon powered by Arc and Circle, developers will build the next generation of Agentic economic applications using Circle’s Nanopayments infrastructure with settlement on Arc in USDC. For the first time, high-frequency, usage-based transactions between users, APIs, and AI agents can operate without gas overhead eroding margin. Arc provides stablecoin-native settlement with predictable, dollar-denominated USDC fees and deterministic, sub-second finality — enabling real-time coordination and economically viable per-action pricing at scale. 📅 April 20 – 26, 2026 • Apr 20 – 25 (Online): Submit projects by Apr 25. • Apr 25 (On-site Build – SF, CA): Teams refine projects. • Apr 26 (On-site Demos & Awards – SF, CA): Live pitches & winners announced. Get guidance from Arc and Circle experts through on-site support. 📍 On-site Venue (April 25-26): MindsDB SF AI Collective 3154 17th St, San Francisco, California, USA 🤝 Go solo or team up, it's your flow. 🏆 Compete for a $15,000+ Prize Pool. 📍 Please note: If approved for the on-site experience, you’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your project live. Travel and accommodation will not be covered. 🧑🏻‍💻 Secure your spot now – sign up before the Kick-Off Stream!