A news wire on how AI agents pay and get paid.
links + original short summaries; content belongs to publishers
Featured category. 24 entries. All categories. JSON: /api/library/bitcoin-lightning.json.
Featured category.
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.
Launch post for Lightning Agent Tools: seven composable open-source skills that let AI agents run Lightning nodes, pay L402-gated APIs, host paid endpoints and query nodes via MCP. It also introduces lnget, an L402-aware command-line HTTP client.
Lightning Labs announcement of developer tools built on L402 and LangChain, including LangChainBitcoin. With these tools, agents can hold a Bitcoin balance, send and receive over Lightning, and pay for L402-gated APIs.
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.
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.
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.
AI agent toolkit (skills plus an MCP server) for Lightning payments: node operation, L402 API payments, paid endpoint hosting and scoped macaroon credentials. Its default security model uses a remote signer that keeps private keys off the agent machine.
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.
Specification of the abstract L402 HTTP and gRPC protocols. It defines the "L402" authentication scheme, which carries credentials as macaroon:preimage pairs.
Repository for L402, an open protocol for paying for and authenticating access to APIs over the Lightning Network. The server's 402 response carries a macaroon and a Lightning invoice, and the client re-sends the request with the macaroon and the payment preimage.
Aperture is an L402 reverse proxy for gRPC and REST backends that gates access behind Lightning payments. The repository states it is used in production by Lightning Loop.
Tools that give LangChain agents access to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, including LLM agent BitcoinTools for an lnd node and an L402 HTTP API traversal wrapper.
Repository of the BOLT specifications, which define the Lightning Network layer-2 protocol for off-chain bitcoin transfer. They cover messaging, peer channel management, transactions, onion routing and invoices.
Lightning specification for a simple, extendable, QR-code-ready protocol for requesting payments over Lightning (BOLT 11 invoices).
Lightning specification for offers, invoice requests, invoices, invoice errors and payer proofs. It is designed to address limitations of the BOLT 11 invoice format.
Explainer site for BOLT 12, a protocol upgrade to the Lightning Network that enables reusable payment requests, stronger receiver privacy and better censorship resistance.
Nostr Implementation Possibility that defines a standardized protocol for clients to access a remote Lightning wallet over Nostr, with commands such as pay_invoice and make_invoice.
Foundational paper proposing purely peer-to-peer electronic cash. A proof-of-work timestamp chain solves double-spending without a trusted third party.
A wget/curl-style command-line client that pays L402 Lightning invoices automatically, caches the resulting tokens and retries the request. Per the docs it offers JSON output, a per-request spending cap and an MCP mode for agents.
Lightning Labs guide on how agents use lnget to reach L402-gated endpoints, covering backend options (lnd, Lightning Node Connect, embedded Neutrino) and bounded per-request spending.
An MCP server that connects an LLM agent to a Lightning wallet over Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC).
Site describing an offers-based L402 flow in which a server answers HTTP 402 with JSON payment offers and the client retries after payment. This is distinct from Lightning Labs’ macaroon-based L402 specification. The site does not name another publisher.
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'.
Directory of apps and APIs presented as reachable through L402 payment gateways.