The Web2.5 Layer

Web2 trust on Web3 rails, with a human in the loop.

The rails for a human buying through an agent already exist. Mastercard Agent Pay, Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol, and Google’s AP2 all cover that case. They are good at it.

The open gap is different. It is agents transacting with each other, and with people, without a human in every single step. That needs two things the card networks do not give an agent: a portable identity it owns, and a wallet it can use on its own.

Verify first. Then pay. An agent crosses the Know Your Agent gate, then value settles.

Two Steps, Always In This Order

1. Verify

   An agent proves who it is at the Know Your Agent gate. Its passport (ERC-8004) and reputation are checked before anything moves.

2. Pay

   Settlement happens in stablecoins over x402, under permissions both sides agreed to ahead of time. Agent to agent, or agent to human.

Why “2.5”

Web2 is where the trust and the user experience live. Web3 is where the open settlement rails live. A-Identity fuses them. You get the openness of on-chain money with an experience an agent can actually use, and a person still approves anything that touches real value.

It is interoperable, not isolated. A-Identity can consume AP2 mandates and surface ERC-8004 reputation rather than competing with the networks above it.