Solana narrows gap with Base as x402 payments surge across blockchains

Rising activity in smart contract networks is reshaping the landscape of x402 payments, with Solana increasingly challenging Base for on-chain volume leadership.

Solana briefly overtakes Base in daily x402 transaction count

On-chain data showed that Solana surpassed Base in x402 on-chain transactions for the first time on Sunday. Solana recorded 518,400 x402 payments, while Base settled 505,000 payments on the same protocol, marking a rare shift in traffic between the two networks.

Moreover, breakdowns by use case highlighted where demand is strongest. Transactions in agent-to-agent services led with $548,500 in payments, followed by infrastructure and utilities at $267,100. However, AI-generated services remained a niche segment, recording only $14,200 in payments over the same period.

Coinbase emerges as dominant facilitator as x402 payments scales

Across supported chains, the x402 protocol is already handling roughly $600m in annualized payment volume. According to on-chain metrics, more than 50% of these flows are routed through the Coinbase facilitator, even as several competing routes gain traction.

Commentary from ecosystem participants underscores expectations for rapid adoption. An account known as 0xSammy described the design as an open standard that can achieve “escape velocity” through broad integration and called x402 a potential “2026 mega trend.” That said, the protocol remains in an early, experimental phase.

January 11 data shows Solana edging ahead in daily volume

On January 11, Solana accounted for nearly 51% of all payments executed on the x402 protocol. Over that day, x402 transaction volumes on the Solana blockchain reached $34,600, while Base recorded around $34,300. The combined x402 transaction volume across all tracked blockchains totaled $69,000.

Moreover, category-level data revealed a similar hierarchy to Sunday. Payment volume in agent-to-agent services reached $49,600, followed by data-as-a-service with transaction volumes of $15,000. Payment volumes in infrastructure and utilities were reported at $202.1, with the remaining categories accounting for the rest of the spending that day.

Tuesday reversal sees Base regain the lead in x402 activity

By Tuesday, on-chain statistics showed that total x402 transactions by chain had climbed to 727,500. Base once again led with 454,900 x402 transactions, followed by Solana at 257,400. In addition, Polygon PoS processed 15,200 x402 payments, underscoring the network’s growing role in the standard’s rollout.

However, the distribution by sector stayed relatively consistent. There were 369,200 x402 transactions in infrastructure and utilities and 254,700 transactions in agent-to-agent services. Data-as-a-service recorded 69,200 transactions on Tuesday, with AI-generated services contributing a further 11,800 transactions.

Payment volumes slide even as Polygon leads by value

Despite the high transaction counts, aggregate x402 payment volume by chain dropped on Tuesday to $27,400, down from $50,600 the previous day. Polygon led in x402 payment volume with $50,400, followed by Solana at $20,100 and Base at $7,300, illustrating how average ticket sizes vary significantly by chain.

Moreover, agent-to-agent service transactions remained an important driver of value. There were more than $20,200 in payments in that category, with the remaining $7,200 in volume spread across other use cases. That said, the data indicates that infrastructure, utilities, and experimental AI segments are still comparatively smaller in dollar terms.

Solana’s previous peak and explosive growth in 2025

Solana reached a previous all-time high in daily payment volume of $380,000 in late 2025 as transaction volumes surged on the blockchain. At that time, on-chain data also showed week-on-week growth of approximately 750%, reflecting how quickly new payment standards can scale when network fees and user experience are favorable.

By the end of 2025, the x402 protocol had processed over 100 million payments across several applications. In parallel, x402 on-chain payments were reporting more than $600 million in annualized payment volume across all supported blockchains. On-chain data indicated that around 50% of that payment flow ran through the Coinbase facilitator, emphasizing its central role in routing value.

Base holds cumulative lead as Solana and Polygon play catch-up

At the time of publication, on-chain records showed that the cumulative number of x402 transactions on Solana had surpassed 38.6 million. The cumulative number of x402 transactions on Base had reached 119 million, highlighting its position as the largest execution environment for the standard. However, Polygon PoS surprisingly reported the lowest cumulative x402 transaction count at 924.1 million, a figure that starkly contrasts with its more modest daily flows.

In terms of value, the Base blockchain dominates in x402 volume, with cumulative x402 transaction volume surpassing $35 million. Solana’s x402 payment volume has climbed to $7.9 million, followed by Polygon with just $3,100. Collectively, these figures underscore the uneven but steadily expanding footprint of the x402 payment standard across major smart contract networks.

Long-term forecasts point to massive addressable market

Global digital asset lender Galaxy Digital stated in December that the x402 payment standard could reach 30% of Base daily transactions and 5% of Solana transactions in 2026. Moreover, venture capital firm z16z forecasted that the x402 protocol may capture a $30 trillion market share over the next five years, if adoption by enterprises and consumer applications continues at its current pace.

Such projections, while ambitious, align with on-chain data showing fast-growing on chain x402 volume across different use cases. However, achieving that scale will depend on sustained developer interest, regulatory clarity for programmable payments, and the continued reliability of underlying layer-1 and layer-2 infrastructure.

Coinbase and Cloudflare build the x402 Foundation

Institutional backing has also deepened with new governance initiatives. In September, Cryptopolitan reported that Coinbase had collaborated with Cloudflare to establish the x402 Foundation. The companies said the initiative aims to simplify online payments through a new open internet standard, keeping the core specification neutral and widely accessible.

“As a next step, we are developing the x402 Foundation with Cloudflare and other partners to ensure the standard remains open and can be used fairly by any company in the world,” Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said at the time. Moreover, Cloudflare argued that a lack of standardization has prevented widespread use of the “x402 Payment Required” concept.

Cloudflare Co-Founder and CEO Mathew Prince has championed Coinbase’s work on the x402 protocol, noting that the internet’s core protocols have historically relied on independent, interoperable governance. Meanwhile, Eric Reppel, creator of x402 and Head of Engineering for Coinbase Developer Platform, said the x402 Foundation will help make agentic commerce “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to rethink how value moves online.

Outlook for multi-chain x402 payments adoption

Looking ahead, the competitive dynamics between Solana, Base, and Polygon suggest that x402 payments will continue to spread across multiple execution environments rather than concentrating on a single chain. However, the balance of power may shift quickly as fee markets, tooling, and consumer-facing applications mature.

For now, the combination of rising transaction counts, expanding annualized volume, and strong institutional sponsorship positions the x402 ecosystem as one of the key experiments to watch in programmable payments over the coming years.