The x402 track is currently in a state of limbo in terms of infrastructure. Although the booming market has taken away the "right time" and made application layers like Launchpad and middleware layers like Facilitator temporarily quiet, it has given the underlying infrastructure layer more time to build. Switchboard, an oracle project that emerged from the Solana ecosystem, recently proposed to provide a data service layer for the x402 protocol. How exactly will it do this?

1) In terms of technical architecture, Switchboard adopts a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), which is different from traditional consensus models such as Chainlink and Pyth that rely on network verification. Data is directly transmitted to the chain based on a secure enclave.

2) In terms of protocol compatibility, Switchboard is compatible with the x402 protocol standard, allowing the AI Agent to directly initiate data requests via HTTP 402, complete authorization using on-chain micro-payments, and receive data instantly. The entire process requires no additional adaptation layer or intermediate contract;

3) In terms of billing model, it breaks the traditional subscription model of oracles and supports pay-per-call—the agent pays according to the number of calls and data points, and pays only for what is used, which is completely consistent with the pay-as-you-go design concept of the x402 protocol;

4) Even more radically, Switchboard has completely removed the API Key mechanism. In the traditional model, accessing data services required registration, applying for a key, and managing permissions—a process that created significant friction for the agent. Now, a user's 402 transaction request simply needs to include sufficient information to instantly access any data source, without registration or approval.

The question is, does the x402 protocol need a dedicated oracle service layer?

First, let's clarify a concept: in the x402 protocol architecture, the Facilitator is responsible for payment facilitation—payment on behalf of others, broadcasting transactions, and state verification—solving the question of "how the money flows." The API services that the Agent actually calls, whether it's obtaining prices, performing calculations, or invoking LLM inference, are provided by the Provider layer.

What Switchboard aims to create is a special type of Provider: a Provider that specifically provides on-chain trusted data services, constructing the core information layer for Agent value transfer.

Imagine if the Provider is a centralized API; what if the data is tampered with or the service goes down? In Web2 scenarios, these risks are mitigated by channel brands and legal contracts, but in on-chain execution environments, especially those involving complex DeFi operations, some verifiable data that is stored on the blockchain is required.

If ERC-8004 solves the problem of buyer agent identity trustworthiness and reputation, then this type of oracle-guided provider provides a layer of trust assurance in seller (API) data trustworthiness verification.

Essentially, the x402 protocol builds the payment layer for the agent service market, while Switchboard builds the data service layer. If the payment layer allows money to flow, the data service layer allows trusted data to flow.

Only when both are combined can an Agentic Economy have a complete infrastructure.