{
  "schema_version": "1",
  "generated_at": "2026-10-20T00:00:00Z",
  "tag": "micropayments",
  "count": 8,
  "entries": [
    {
      "id": "lightning-labs-l402-for-agents",
      "title": "The Future Is Now: Why L402 Is the Internet-Native Payments Protocol for Agents",
      "publisher": "Lightning Labs",
      "authors": [
        "Michael Levin"
      ],
      "date_published": "2026-03-11",
      "url": "https://lightning.engineering/posts/2026-03-11-L402-for-agents/",
      "type": "announcement",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Lightning Labs post explaining how L402 puts HTTP 402 Payment Required to work by pairing it with the Lightning Network and cryptographic authentication tokens. Any Lightning-enabled client can pay for and authenticate with an L402 API instantly, with no signup, API key or prior relationship, and the post covers updates to the L402 bLIP specification.",
      "tags": [
        "l402",
        "lightning",
        "bitcoin",
        "m2m-payments",
        "micropayments"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260703094933/https://lightning.engineering/posts/2026-03-11-L402-for-agents/"
    },
    {
      "id": "podcast-namespace-value-spec",
      "title": "The \"podcast:value\" Specification",
      "publisher": "Podcast Index (podcast-namespace)",
      "authors": [
        "Dave Jones",
        "Gigi",
        "Evan Feenstra",
        "Paul Itoi"
      ],
      "date_published": "2021-09-01",
      "url": "https://github.com/Podcastindex-org/podcast-namespace/blob/main/docs/examples/value/value.md",
      "type": "spec",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Podcasting 2.0 specification (v1.4) for a feed-level \"value block\" that lets listeners stream near-real-time Lightning micropayments directly to creators (for example via keysend), calculated per minute of consumption.",
      "tags": [
        "lightning",
        "streaming-payments",
        "micropayments",
        "bitcoin"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261016002843/https://github.com/Podcastindex-org/podcast-namespace/blob/main/docs/examples/value/value.md"
    },
    {
      "id": "arxiv-lightning-micropayments-iot",
      "title": "Enabling Micro-payments on IoT Devices using Bitcoin Lightning Network",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "authors": [
        "Ahmet Kurt",
        "Suat Mercan",
        "Enes Erdin",
        "Kemal Akkaya"
      ],
      "date_published": "2020-12-19",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10576",
      "type": "research-paper",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Proposes a protocol that lets resource-constrained IoT devices use Lightning through a gateway node, with 3-of-3 multisignature channels so the device signs every channel operation. It was demonstrated on a Raspberry Pi in a toll-payment scenario.",
      "tags": [
        "lightning",
        "iot",
        "m2m-payments",
        "micropayments",
        "research"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260403081751/https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10576"
    },
    {
      "id": "lightning-network-paper",
      "title": "The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments",
      "publisher": "lightning.network",
      "authors": [
        "Joseph Poon",
        "Thaddeus Dryja"
      ],
      "date_published": "2016-01-14",
      "url": "https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf",
      "type": "research-paper",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Foundational paper (draft v0.5.9.2) proposing a decentralized network of micropayment channels whose value transfers happen off-blockchain. The aim is to scale Bitcoin to high transaction volumes without custodial third parties.",
      "tags": [
        "lightning",
        "bitcoin",
        "micropayments",
        "research"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261012231826/http://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf"
    },
    {
      "id": "lightning-labs-l402-builders-guide",
      "title": "L402: Lightning HTTP 402 Protocol",
      "publisher": "Lightning Labs (Builder's Guide)",
      "authors": [],
      "date_published": null,
      "url": "https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/l402",
      "type": "docs",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Lightning Labs documentation presenting L402 as a standard for selling and buying digital resources that lets services charge for API endpoints in a way AI agents can easily use.",
      "tags": [
        "l402",
        "lightning",
        "m2m-payments",
        "micropayments"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261009034701/https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/l402"
    },
    {
      "id": "bolt-11-invoice-protocol",
      "title": "BOLT #11: Invoice Protocol for Lightning Payments",
      "publisher": "GitHub (lightning/bolts)",
      "authors": [],
      "date_published": null,
      "url": "https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/11-payment-encoding.md",
      "type": "spec",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Lightning specification for a simple, extendable, QR-code-ready protocol for requesting payments over Lightning (BOLT 11 invoices).",
      "tags": [
        "lightning",
        "bitcoin",
        "micropayments"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261016083441/https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/11-payment-encoding.md"
    },
    {
      "id": "nostr-nip-90-data-vending-machine",
      "title": "NIP-90: Data Vending Machine",
      "publisher": "GitHub (nostr-protocol/nips)",
      "authors": [],
      "date_published": null,
      "url": "https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/90.md",
      "type": "spec",
      "category": "bitcoin-lightning",
      "summary": "Nostr spec for on-demand computation ('money in, data out'). Customers publish job requests (kinds 5000-5999), service providers return results (6000-6999) and feedback (7000), and payment is typically made over Lightning. The spec itself is marked draft and 'unrecommended'.",
      "tags": [
        "nostr",
        "lightning",
        "m2m-payments",
        "micropayments"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "featured": true,
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261007111747/https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/90.md"
    },
    {
      "id": "cloudflare-pay-per-crawl",
      "title": "Introducing pay per crawl: Enabling content owners to charge AI crawlers for access",
      "publisher": "Cloudflare Blog",
      "authors": [],
      "date_published": "2025-07-01",
      "url": "https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-pay-per-crawl/",
      "type": "announcement",
      "category": "payments",
      "summary": "Cloudflare announcement of pay per crawl, which lets content owners charge AI crawlers for access using HTTP 402 responses. It is a machine-payable content model at CDN scale.",
      "tags": [
        "m2m-payments",
        "micropayments",
        "web-agents"
      ],
      "verified_at": "2026-10-20",
      "last_checked": "2026-10-20",
      "http_status": 200,
      "archive_url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20261016042320/https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-pay-per-crawl/"
    }
  ]
}