x402 Is it really simplifying payments, or just hiding the complexity of Web3? Gas hasn't disappeared; it's just being prepaid by Coinbase's facilitator. As scale increases, the costs are real money, and the only question is: who ultimately foots the bill? Signatures are instantaneous, but payment confirmation still depends on the finality of the chain (2--15 seconds). HTTP connections need to stay open continuously; once they break, you have to check status, retry, and rely on the facilitator again.