Capability-Priced Micro-Markets: A Micro-Economic Framework for the Agentic Web over HTTP 402

Computer Science > Computer Science and Game Theory [Submitted on 4 Mar 2026] Capability-Priced Micro-Markets: A Micro-Economic Framework for the Agentic Web over HTTP 402 Ken Huang, Jerry Huang, Mahesh Lambe, Hammad Atta, Yasir Mehmood, Muhammad Zeeshan Baig, Muhammad Aziz Ul Haq, Nadeem Shahzad, Shailja Gupta, Rajesh Ranjan, Rekha Singhal This paper introduces Capability-Priced Micro-Markets (CPMM), a micro-economic framework designed to enable robust, scalable, and secure commerce among autonomous AI agents on the agentic web. The framework addresses the fundamental challenge of economic coordination in decentralized agent ecosystems, where entities must transact with minimal human oversight. CPMM synthesizes three key technologies into a unified system: MIT originated, Project NANDA infrastructure for cryptographically verifiable, capability-based security and discovery; the HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code, with modern X402/H402 extensions for efficient, low-cost micropayments; and the Agent Capability Negotiation and Binding Protocol (ACNBP) for secure, multi-step negotiation and commitment. The paper formalizes agent interactions as a repeated bilateral game with incomplete information, demonstrating theoretically that the CPMM mechanism converges to a constrained Radner equilibrium, ensuring efficient outcomes under information asymmetry. A key theoretical contribution is the concept of "privacy elasticity of demand," which is introduced to quantify the trade-off between an agent's information disclosure and the market price of its services. By integrating secure capabilities, micropayment protocols, and formal negotiation mechanisms, CPMM provides a comprehensive, theoretically-grounded solution for creating functional micro-markets for the emergent agentic web. Subjects: Computer Science and Game Theory (cs.GT); Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Emerging Technologies (cs.ET); Multiagent Systems (cs.MA) Cite as: arXiv:2603.16899 [cs.GT]   (or arXiv:2603.16899v1 [cs.GT] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.16899 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Muhammad Zeeshan Baig Dr [view email] [v1] Wed, 4 Mar 2026 00:09:47 UTC (1,013 KB) Access Paper: view license Current browse context: cs.GT < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: cs cs.CR cs.ET cs.MA References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)