We paid real USDC 1,596 times to x402 endpoints. 653 settled

Description and use

Developers using the x402 protocol found that only 41% of paid attempts settle successfully, and 93% of catalog entries remain unverified. A public observatory and SDK enable verification and avoidance of unreliable endpoints.

Problem

Developers building agents that pay via the x402 HTTP 402 payment protocol cannot assume a successful payment guarantees a useful response; many endpoints fail to deliver after settlement.

Outcome

Only 41% of paid attempts settled; 93% of catalog endpoints remain unverified. Public data and SDK enable developers to audit and avoid unreliable endpoints.

Workflow

• 1. Query the public state endpoint with curl to get overall metrics. 2. For each endpoint, send a HEAD request to check catalog presence (L0 layer). 3. For selected endpoints, perform a real payment using the x402 protocol (L1 layer). 4. Record the transaction hash and receipt. 5. Publish the result on the endpoint’s public page. 6. Use the SDK (@vet402/sdk) to automate payments and result checks. 7. In your agent, separate payment success from response validation; keep the receipt and verify the returned data before signing.

Evidence

1,596 paid attempts across 1,005 distinct endpoints. 653 of them settled.

Source

17,777 endpoints — 93% of the catalog — that nobody has verified by buying from them.

Source

Every L1 result is published on that endpoint's public page with its transaction hash, so you do not have to trust our summary — you can check the chain.

Source