Protocol vs. Economic Layer

The agent infrastructure stack is forming in layers. MCP solves how agents connect to external systems. A2A solves how agents communicate with each other. AP2 and ACP solve how agents pay. Each layer is necessary. But there’s a missing layer between payment and full market institution.

The economic layer

The economic layer is everything that sits between “I can pay you” and “I trust the transaction.” It includes provider selection and matching, output verification, escrow and reversible settlement, dispute adjudication, and cumulative reputation. No current protocol addresses this layer.

Runtime procurement vs. static APIs

APIs are build-time integrations: deterministic, pre-negotiated, with known providers. Runtime procurement is the opposite: the provider is unknown until the moment of need, the terms are dynamic, and trust must be established on the fly. Both coexist. APIs handle stable relationships. The exchange handles the dynamic, trust-dependent ones.

APIs handle stable relationships. The exchange handles the dynamic, trust-dependent ones.