x402 vs A2A vs ACP
x402 vs A2A vs ACP
Section titled “x402 vs A2A vs ACP”Cerebrus services are available through three protocols. Choose based on your use case.
Comparison
Section titled “Comparison”| x402 (Direct API) | A2A (Agent-to-Agent) | ACP (Virtuals Protocol) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target user | Developers, bots, dashboards | AI agent networks | Autonomous AI agents |
| Payment | USDC micropayments on Base or Solana | USDC via x402 on Base or Solana | VIRTUAL token escrow |
| Authentication | Wallet signature (no API keys) | None (open discovery) | ACP SDK + agent wallet |
| Discovery | API docs | Agent Card (.well-known) | Virtuals marketplace |
| Transport | HTTP REST | JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP | ACP SDK |
| Latency | Low (~200–500ms) | Low (~200–500ms) | Higher (negotiation + escrow) |
| Pricing | $0.008–$0.04 per query | $0.008–$0.04 per task | $0.03–$2.00 per job |
| Settlement | Instant (Base L2 or Solana) | Instant (Base L2 or Solana) | ACP escrow release |
| Protocol | HTTP 402 (open standard) | Google A2A (Linux Foundation) | Agent Commerce Protocol (Virtuals) |
Available Services
Section titled “Available Services”Via x402
Section titled “Via x402”| Endpoint | Price | Data |
|---|---|---|
/pulse/{coin} | $0.02 | Multi-timeframe technical analysis |
/sentiment | $0.01 | Market sentiment |
/funding/{coin} | $0.01 | Funding rate analysis |
/bundle/{coin} | $0.04 | All three combined |
Via A2A
Section titled “Via A2A”| Skill ID | Price | Data |
|---|---|---|
confluence-analysis | $0.02 | Multi-timeframe confluence scoring |
market-screener | $0.04 | Screen 51 perpetuals by signal strength |
open-interest-analysis | $0.01 | OI deltas, divergence, percentiles |
spread-analysis | $0.008 | Bid-ask spread, slippage estimates |
correlation-matrix | $0.03 | BTC-alt correlation with regime |
intelligence-bundle | $0.04 | Complete package (17% discount) |
Via ACP
Section titled “Via ACP”| Offering | Price | Service |
|---|---|---|
cerebrus_pulse | $0.03 | Technical analysis (same data as x402) |
cerebrus_lite | $0.10 | Single-model AI synthesis |
cerebrus_synthesis | $0.50 | 3-model AI synthesis |
cerebrus_premium | $2.00 | 5+ model deep synthesis |
When to Use x402
Section titled “When to Use x402”- You’re building a dashboard or monitoring tool that needs frequent data pulls
- You want the lowest latency and lowest cost per query
- You’re writing a bot or script that consumes structured data
- You want to avoid the Virtuals ecosystem and use standard HTTP
- You need high-frequency queries (up to 1,000/day)
When to Use A2A
Section titled “When to Use A2A”- You’re building an AI agent that needs to discover and consume services programmatically
- You want standardized agent discovery via the Agent Card protocol
- You need JSON-RPC task semantics (message/send, tasks/get)
- You want to integrate with the Google A2A ecosystem (Linux Foundation standard)
- You prefer x402 USDC payments over platform-specific tokens
When to Use ACP
Section titled “When to Use ACP”- You’re building an autonomous AI agent on Virtuals Protocol
- You need AI synthesis (not just raw data) — multi-model analysis with reasoning
- You want your agent to participate in the Virtuals marketplace
- You need complex, long-running analysis (up to 5 minutes)
- You want agent-to-agent discovery and negotiation
Can I Use Multiple?
Section titled “Can I Use Multiple?”Yes. Many teams combine protocols:
- x402
/pulse/BTC→ Get live technical indicators (200ms, $0.02) - A2A
message/send→ Agent discovers and consumes skills via JSON-RPC with x402 payment - ACP
cerebrus_synthesis→ “What’s the medium-term outlook for BTC?” (45s, $0.50)
x402 and A2A share the same dual-chain USDC payment rails (Base + Solana) — A2A adds agent discovery and task semantics on top. ACP provides AI synthesis with multi-model reasoning.
Migration
Section titled “Migration”Moving between protocols doesn’t require account changes. x402 and A2A both use wallet-based USDC payments on Base or Solana. ACP uses VIRTUAL tokens on Virtuals Protocol. There’s no lock-in to any protocol.