> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.myproceeds.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Circle Nanopayments

> Gas-free USDC payments down to $0.000001, powered by Circle Gateway batched settlement.

[Circle Nanopayments](https://developers.circle.com/gateway/nanopayments) make sub-cent USDC payments economically viable by batching thousands of payment authorizations into a single onchain settlement. Buyers sign offchain authorizations at zero gas cost; Circle Gateway aggregates and settles in bulk.

Proceeds surfaces Circle Nanopayments in the **Wallet** page, and marks qualifying transactions with a **Nano** badge.

## When to use Nanopayments

| Use case                        | Why it fits                                                           |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Per-token inference billing** | Sub-cent pricing per token is economical without per-transaction gas. |
| **Per-query data lookups**      | High-frequency, low-value queries fit batched settlement.             |
| **Agentic commerce**            | Agents pay autonomously across many small transactions.               |
| **Streaming value**             | Pay-per-second content and continuous flows.                          |

## How Nanopayments works inside Proceeds

Nanopayments use the [x402 protocol](/standards/x402) for the request flow, plus Circle Gateway for batched settlement.

1. Buyer deposits USDC into a Gateway Wallet contract (one-time onchain transaction).
2. Buyer requests a Proceeds-protected URL.
3. Proceeds returns `402 Payment Required` with payment details.
4. Buyer signs an EIP-3009 payment authorization (offchain, zero gas).
5. Buyer retries the request with the signed authorization attached.
6. Proceeds verifies and serves the resource immediately.
7. Circle Gateway collects authorizations and settles them in batches onchain. Sellers' Gateway balances credit.

## What you see in Proceeds

* **Transactions** — Nano-eligible transactions are flagged with the `Nano` badge.
* **Wallet** — Holdings under **Circle Nanopayments** show your aggregate Gateway balance.
* **Withdrawals** — Settle from your Gateway balance to any supported chain.

## Pairing with x402 and MPP

Circle Nanopayments and the standards above aren't mutually exclusive:

* A paywall priced above \$0.01 can stay on standard x402.
* A paywall priced sub-cent should accept Nanopayments to be economical.
* A paywall accepting agent traffic via MPP can still settle on Tempo or via Gateway, depending on the agent's preferences.

## Use from an agent

To pay a sub-cent Proceeds paywall from an agent, use the [Circle Agent Stack](/agents/circle-agent-stack): Circle CLI and Agent Wallets sign the offchain authorization, and Gateway settles it in batches. See [Pay with an agent](/agents/overview) for setup.

<Card title="More on Nanopayments" icon="book" href="https://developers.circle.com/gateway/nanopayments">
  Read the Circle Gateway documentation.
</Card>