Cloudflare launches Monetization Gateway for agents

As AI agents replace human browsers, traditional advertising and subscription-based web models will crumble, making agentic micropayments a necessity. Cloudflare's position as a global proxy makes it the ideal gatekeeper to handle high-frequency, sub-cent payments before traffic ever reaches origin servers.

• –**Edge Payment Verification**: Offloading authentication and verification to Cloudflare's edge protects origins from spam and high payment processing loads.
• –**Standardizing HTTP 402**: Finally puts the long-dormant HTTP 402 Payment Required code to use through the open x402 protocol.
• –**Slick Microtransactions**: Leverages stablecoins to settle sub-cent fees with minimal overhead, something traditional payment processors cannot support.
• –**Agent Wallets**: Lays the foundation for autonomous AI agents that carry wallets and purchase resources programmatically without human intervention.