I assume that if this catches on then the agents will have their own wallets and deduct fees from your account credit, just like with API-based usage. So the way you interact with them won't change, from your POV they'll just get more expensive.

It seems the usage will be mostly agent <-> service or service <-> service. For user, probably using a Metamask-like wallet yes

article says it's mostly for agents, users will not be directly involved

> At the same time, an agent can make thousands of micropayments without friction, while asking a person to approve each payment would be impossibly burdensome.

but yes, they will need wallets

but it's also optional, you do not want to buy these paid for requests, you do not need a wallet

Yes really. Just because the initial rush ended in scam bros, doesn't mean there's no value in the underlying tech. You don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Actually, x402 was created because using a credit card programmatically is very difficult.

The whole business of Stripe is based on that: it's so hard for developers to do, and so many regulations, that they would rather pay an another company to do so.

Crypto can be sent just using a contract.transfer() call

Debit cards have to pay too many people. The acquiring bank, the receiving bank, the network, all take their fees. Stripe and their minimum $.30 per transactions leave no room for $0.01 API calls.