
What is Arcent? Arcent is the first x402 payment implementation on Arc Network with Pay-on-Success protection. AI agents autonomously discover, negotiate, and pay for API services. No human intervention, no credit cards, no subscriptions. The Problem AI agents can't participate in the economy. They can't have bank accounts, pass KYC, or manage subscriptions. The internet was built for humans, not machines. Our Solution Arcent gives agents a native economy: - Programmable wallets via Circle SDK - HTTP 402 payment protocol (x402) - USDC micropayments on Arc Network - Pay-on-Success — agents only pay for working results - Agents only sign, they never pay gas. The executor wallet covers all network fees. Key Innovation: Atomic Settlement Traditional x402: Agent pays → API called → If API fails, money lost ❌ Arcent: API called first → Response validated → Payment only on success ✅ This protects agents from paying for failed API calls. Technical Architecture - Circle Developer Controlled Wallets for agent custody - Arc Network for sub-second settlement (<1s finality) - Embedded SQL persistence for transaction audit trail - Multi-provider routing with reliability scoring
24 Jan 2026