The U.S. crypto exchange's developer-focused unit posted the announcement about the new "Upto" feature on X, according to CoinTelegraph's Brian Quarmby, in an article published on April 9.
The move adds flexibility to the x402 protocol, which is designed to facilitate payments for goods, content and services between AI agents; previously, only fixed charges were allowed.
The extra functionality could be especially useful for vendors that want to pass along the variable costs of AI models, at a time when the risk of underpricing usage has become a major focus for builders.
Coinbase incubated the x402 Protocol but recently turned it over to the nonprofit Linux Foundation to be overseen as an open standard.
"Previously, simple and complex requests cost the same amount, resulting in some users either overpaying or underpaying for tasks done by AI agents," Quarmby reported. "This upgrade will help users set prices they are willing to pay before a task instead of guessing how much they think the task will cost for an agent to complete."
Source: CoinTelegraph