FinanceMarch 7, 2026

Micropayment

A very small financial transaction, typically under $1, that's impractical with traditional payment processors.

Credit card processors charge a minimum of $0.30 per transaction, making payments under a dollar uneconomical. Crypto, especially on low-fee chains like Base and Solana, enables payments of fractions of a cent.

Micropayments unlock new business models: pay-per-article instead of subscriptions, pay-per-API-call for developers, streaming payments for content creators, and tipping. USDC on Base costs less than a penny to transfer, making it ideal for micropayments.

The x402 protocol is specifically designed for USDC micropayments, enabling machine-to-machine transactions where each payment might be just a few cents.

Related Terms

x402

A payment protocol that uses the HTTP 402 status code to enable machine-to-machine payments with USDC.

Gas Fees

Transaction fees paid to blockchain validators for processing and confirming transactions.

USDC (USD Coin)

A regulated, fully-backed stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. Each USDC is redeemable for $1.

Learn More

What is x402?

The open payment protocol that lets any website or API charge USDC per request. How it works, why it matters, and who's building on it.

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From saving in dollars to sending money abroad — practical use cases for everyday life.

This definition is provided for educational purposes. USDC.org is an independent resource and is not affiliated with Circle Internet Financial.