I stopped detecting bots and started charging them: HTTP 402 + USDC for agent traffic

Description and use

Automated traffic now pays a fixed USDC fee per request, turning previously free bot traffic into measurable revenue without unreliable bot detection.

Problem

Crawler or agent requests consume bandwidth and ad revenue without generating income because they never trigger ad rendering or affiliate clicks.

Outcome

Automated traffic now pays a fixed USDC fee per request, converting previously free bot traffic into measurable revenue while avoiding unreliable bot detection.

Workflow

• 1. Client requests protected resource endpoint. 2. Server responds with HTTP 402 and a JSON offer containing price, network, amount, asset, payTo, description. 3. Client reads offer, signs a payment authorization for the exact request. 4. Client sends signed payload in payment-signature header and retries request. 5. Server verifies on-chain receipt (transaction success, correct payer, recipient, amount, nonce). 6. Upon successful settlement, server returns the requested content. 7. If payment fails or expires, server returns specific error or conflict with recovery route.

Evidence

When a page is fetched by a crawler or an agent that reads the markup and leaves, three things happen at once: the request costs bandwidth and origin work, the ad slot is never rendered for a person, and the affiliate link is never clicked through to a purchase.

Source

The server verifies the authorisation, the payment settles, and only then is the payload released.

Source

The price belongs to the resource, not to the visitor.

Source

An authorisation is not a settlement.

Source