WHY x402

Signed in the wallet, recorded on the chain

Backing someone is a payment, and that payment runs on x402.

THE NUMBER 402

A code the web reserved and never defined

402 Payment Required

HTTP has had a code for "you must pay for this" since the 1990s. RFC 9110 still leaves 402 reserved and undefined, and no browser implements it.

show⁺X took that empty slot.

What x402 filled in

The server answers 402 with machine-readable terms: amount, currency, network, recipient.

A show⁺X 402 reads: this contest, this much Candy, this person.

One request, start to finish

The wallet signs those terms and resends the same request. No redirect, no new account, no checkout page.

Tap support, approve, done — one motion.

A facilitator carries the chain

It verifies the signature, pays the gas and submits the transfer on chain.

You never see it. No gas to buy, no network to pick.

IN show⁺X

What it looks like from inside the app

Tap, and the wallet is there

Back a performer and the show⁺X Wallet opens the approval right where you are. You never leave for a checkout page.

What you see is the terms

Which contest, how much Candy, who receives it. What the 402 carried is what the screen shows.

Approve once, and it is on chain

One signature and x402 verifies and settles. Who received what is left on chain for anyone to read.

WHO STANDS BEHIND IT

Coinbase, Cloudflare and Stripe contributed x402 as an open standard, and these organizations joined the x402 Foundation at its launch.

LAUNCH MEMBERS OF THE x402 FOUNDATION

Launch members named in the Linux Foundation announcement of 2 April 2026.

THE WALLET

Safe without learning a wallet

Where the keys are kept. How far one permission reaches. Where the signature happens. Those three make it safe, and keep it simple.

1
Keys live in cold storage

Private keys are kept offline, and moving funds takes several separate signatures. One leaked key moves nothing on its own.

and no contract ships without an external audit
2
One permission, one scope

A dApp receives exactly the permission it asked for and nothing beside it. There is no unlimited approval, so a single tap can never open the whole wallet.

with a PIN and two-factor layered over sign-in
3
Signing happens inside the app

The wallet builds and signs the x402 authorization itself — no extension to install, no external wallet to connect, no chain to pick, no gas to buy in advance.

one approval carries it through verification and on-chain settlement

BUILT FOR THE STAGE

One wallet moves the whole stage

Payment is already moving this way, and show⁺X put an entire stage on top of it. Backing, settlement, benefits and expansion run as one thing rather than four.

Start without knowing a thing about wallets

The moment you sign in, the wallet opens with you. Nothing else to install, no long passphrase to copy down. From the very first screen you can back a contest, buy a ticket and top up Candy. show⁺X holds the key safely — the first step should be this simple.

the hardest step is the one we removed

Take it into your own hands whenever you like

One day you may want to hold it yourself. One button is all it takes. Move to your own address and your account, your contest history and your standing all come with you. You can move between custody and self-custody as often as you want.

easy and sovereign, without giving up either

The longer you stay, the more you are recognised

Lock-up is how the Service recognises time. Hold Candy without moving it and your grade and badges rise, priority entry to competitions opens up, and dedicated benefits attach — all set by how long you have held. It is not a deposit and it pays no interest.

recognition for staying, not interest on a balance

Anyone in the world can build on it

Payment sits on x402, an open standard, so an app we never wrote plugs straight in. Tools built by developers anywhere, an agent that acts on conditions you set, services nobody has imagined yet — the more open the stage, the bigger it gets.

an open ecosystem, not a closed service

A wallet, a settlement, a benefit and an open door — four things moving as one stage. That is the stage show⁺X is building.