Proof and Circle Demonstrate End-to-End Agentic Commerce: The x401/x402 Handshake

While traditional financial institutions remain locked in a cycle of blocking agentic traffic, the open-protocol ecosystem is demonstrating a functional alternative. On October 19, 2026, at Money20/20 USA, Proof and Circle jointly unveiled an end-to-end demo of an AI agent completing an identity-gated merchant purchase. This ‘Protocol Handshake’ bypasses the bank blockouts currently stalling the […]