x402 has gotten a massive upgrade leading to the launch of x402 V2. 𝘹402 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘣 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳. Since its initial launch, x402 has processed over 100 million payments from applications, APIs, and autonomous agents buying compute, data, and other resources on demand. —------------ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 ➢ V2 updates the protocol based on six months of real-world use, making it cleaner, more modular, and easier to implement across new chains. ➢ It introduces clearer separation between components, formalizes extensions for experimentation, moves payment data to headers, and rewrites the SDK for composability. ➢ The aim is to make value move across the internet as seamlessly as information while preparing the protocol for future growth. —-------------------------------------- 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐱402 𝐕2 ➢ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. Networks and assets are now identified in a single, standardized way, allowing payments to flow seamlessly across multiple blockchains. This makes x402 a neutral layer simplifying settlement processes across different networks. ---------------------------- ➢ 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐓𝐨 V2 also adds a dynamic payTo feature, letting payments be routed automatically to specific addresses, or callback-based logic depending on the request. Especially useful for marketplaces, multi-tenant APIs, or any system where pricing may change based on input data. --------------------------- ➢𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 The introduction of wallet-based sessions means returning users or AI agents no longer need to verify payments for every request. This is a huge efficiency gain for subscription-based services, high-frequency API calls, generative AI inference. --------------------------------- ➢ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐢𝐧-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧. Clients, servers, and payment facilitators are separated, so new chains, assets, or payment schemes can be integrated independently without modifying the core. The reference SDK has been completely rewritten for modularity and composability. ------------------------------- ➢ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐕2. Services can now publish structured metadata, and facilitators can automatically index endpoints, pricing, and routing information. This eliminates the need for manual updates and enables a more autonomous ecosystem. ------------------------------ ➢ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. The SDK can manage multiple facilitators at once, prioritize chains or assets, and handle payment routing automatically. Developers no longer need to write complex glue code for chain selection, facilitator discovery, or payment scheme choice. 𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘹402 𝘝2 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪-𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 2026 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 ➢ Reserve-backed stablecoins will consolidate liquidity but diversify custody models. ➢ Big issuers like Circle and Tether keep dominating volumes while offering more modular custody & yield products to stay competitive. ➢ Regulated stablecoins like USDC & USDT will face stricter, clearer requirements for who can use them and how they operate. ➢ DAI and FRAX will continue to be the main option for open, permissionless DeFi ➢ We will be seeing New types of stablecoins that mix algorithmic mechanisms with partial collateral are getting better and safer. ➢ Major DeFi protocols when they start creating their own stablecoins like Aave did with GHO. ➢ Usage of stablecoins will become effortless as wallets, L2s, and apps will compete to make using stablecoins seamless ➢ More projects will start using stablecoins that come with privacy features. ➢ Stablecoins backed by treasuries, reserves, or community-owned funds will make a comeback but this time with better governance and transparency. ➢ Top stablecoins will start building compliance into their products. ➢ Wallets and payment systems that make low-value, recurring payments easy and cheap will become more popular. People will use stablecoins more this way ➢ DeFi protocols will start building liquidity pools and vaults that use stablecoins as the base. This includes things like prediction markets. ➢ Industry-specific stablecoins will grow, making payments and transactions easier within their own ecosystems. ➢ Stablecoins will be made for specific uses or industries, like for travel, gaming etc. ➢ Stablecoin protocols will start highlighting security features like resistance to future quantum computer attacks. Here are 10 stablecoin-related projects to be bullish on for next year; ➢ @circle ( $USDC ) ➢ @tether_to ( $USDT ) ➢ @SkyEcosystem ( $USDS ) ➢ @fraxfinance ( $FRAX ) ➢ @Aave ( $GHO ) ➢ @Paxos ( $PYUSD ) ➢ @Curvefinance ( $crvUSD ) ➢ @ethena_labs ( $sUSDe ) ➢ @FDLabsHQ ( $FDUSD ) ➢ @synthetix ( $sUSD )

Are shielded transactions really exposed on @Zcash? @Arkham recently announced on-chain monitoring for Zcash. This was highlighted to contain both shielded and transparent on-chain transactions. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? —------------------------------------ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 Overall sentiment is questioning the privacy narrative, but there is a strong counter-narrative emphasizing that shielded transactions remain private. Privacy researchers have viewed Arkham’s announcement as misleading. 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, @𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥. ➢ Zcash has been built to offer privacy, and its shielded transactions are really the core of the ecosystem. When someone sends $ZEC from one shielded address to another, the system uses zk-SNARK cryptography to hide the sender, the receiver, and the amount being transferred. ➢ It’s like putting a transaction in a locked box that nobody can open, so outsiders shouldn’t be able to tell who sent what to whom. This makes fully shielded transactions very different from the regular transparent ones, where everyone can see the details on the blockchain. ➢ So even though Arkham says it is seeing a lot of activity, the key question is whether it can really track shielded transactions. 𝘡𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵. —------------------------------ 𝐀𝐫𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐙𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 Arkham’s data shows that 53% of all ZEC transactions have been tagged, 48% of inputs and outputs have been linked to known entities, and 37% of all balances, around $2.5 billion, have been labeled. Thus, Arkham claimed to have labeled > ½ of Zcash’s shielded and unshielded transactions. Many chads like @WisdomMatic and @0xMert_ have claimed this refers to transparent tracking instead of shielded transactions. So many questions revolve around this news. The truth still stands that privacy is freedom and optional. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦? While Arkham claims to deanonymize shielded transactions, Zcash’s design intentionally hides sender, receiver, and amount in shielded transfers using zk-SNARK cryptography. It is possible that many of the tagged transactions correspond to transparent addresses rather than fully shielded transfers. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?