x402 just shipped batch settlement as a first-class scheme in the protocol. the mechanics explained ⬇️ an agent opens a session by committing funds to escrow, then runs thousands of HTTP calls against it. each call carries a signed voucher that increments a running tab. the seller verifies it with cheap signature math and serves the response immediately. settlement onchain happens once, in bulk, when the seller decides it's worth posting. per-call pricing at fractions of a cent now pencils out. the gas cost lives at the batch level, and one settlement covers thousands of interactions. it also handles the way workloads vary in cost. the 402 header can advertise a ceiling per call, and the voucher captures what was actually used. inference, data, compute, any workload where cost moves with tokens or bytes or milliseconds. agents run as loops: plan, act, pay, observe. if every act is an onchain settlement, gas costs swamp the workload. batch settlement keeps the seller covered with signed commitments and lets the agent run at the speed of HTTP. the TypeScript and Go SDKs already support it, with Python in development.