Paid APIs with Lightning
APIs power the modern internet, but monetizing them still depends on subscriptions, API keys, and centralized billing systems. Bitcoin Lightning and the L402 protocol introduce a different model: APIs that can charge per request natively over the internet. In this talk, I’ll introduce ngx_l402, an open-source NGINX module written in Rust that enables Lightning-powered API authentication and monetization using HTTP 402. We’ll explore pay-per-use APIs, AI inference endpoints, and machine-to-machine payments with Lightning, along with lessons learned building ngx_l402.
30m
agenda