Many people who see x402 for the first time might think it's some kind of encrypted payment solution, but that's not entirely correct.

What x402 truly addresses is a long-ignored problem that has suddenly become very painful in the AI era: how machines should make payments.

The payment process for familiar Web2 APIs goes roughly like this:

1. Register an account first

2. Then bind a credit card

3. Recharge

4. Set a plan

5. Manage flow control, reconciliation, and billing periods

It's already complicated enough for humans, but for AI agents, scripts, and automated services, it's almost a disaster; AI won't fill out registration forms or remember passwords.

The logic behind x402 isn't complicated and is somewhat "returning to the basics."

The entire process requires no account, no trust, and no intermediaries.

It does not establish account relationships like Web2, but rather a single request and a single settlement, making it very suitable for automation.

One could say that x402 is inherently designed for AI: it solves the problem of machines making automatic payments.

However, the issue lies in the transparency of blockchain, which exposes all payment details on-chain, and payment itself is one of the most sensitive actions, making x402 have a clear shortcoming in terms of privacy.

It is precisely because of this issue that people have begun to contemplate: can we "hide" the payment process again without sacrificing the convenience of x402?

This led x402z to naturally enter a new track: AI native economy + privacy computing + on-chain payment infrastructure.

#MindNetwork is the core player in this track, utilizing FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) as its underlying capability, allowing AI payment actions to be both automatic and private, while capturing value and incentivizing network nodes to participate in validation through $FHE tokens, forming a closed-loop ecosystem.

Ultimately, x402 solves the issue of "being able to pay," while x402z addresses the issue of "payment not being exposed," and FHE is working to build this privacy payment infrastructure into a long-term foundational capability for the AI economy.

#x402 #MindNetwork $FHE