Algorand (ALGO) names Global x402 Challenge winners after 115 submissions
Algorand (ALGO) has named the winners of its Global x402 Challenge after 115 projects put paid x402 endpoints live on MainNet and settled real USDC through the GoPlausible facilitator, according to the Algorand Foundation blog post published Oct. 22, 2026. The foundation said 20 projects will share a 500,000 ALGO leaderboard prize pool, while 10 others advance to a final round for a separate $100,000 USDC prize pool.
Leaderboard winners and finalists
The top 20 projects were ranked by counted USDC volume settled through the facilitator on Algorand MainNet, the foundation said. The leaderboard awards were split into four tiers: 50,000 ALGO each for the top five, 25,000 ALGO each for places 6 through 10, 15,000 ALGO each for places 11 through 15, and 10,000 ALGO each for places 16 through 20.
The highest-ranked projects listed by Algorand were Moltworld, Finality [ Market Intelligence ], Tendril, PRISM and SiteLenz. The remaining leaderboard winners include AgentHub, AlgoFile Storage, Validex, Callrack, Sikho Ai, Earnest, MicroPay, Canix402, KepAIx, AlgorandTracker x402 Data API, Inquvia, SELO, HelixBox, NetIntel and GATEWAY, each described by the foundation as pay-per-request or pay-per-use services spanning AI access, market intelligence, storage, compute, verification and developer tooling.
Algorand said the top 50 eligible projects moved into a judging stage, where four judges independently reviewed and scored submissions and demo videos. The ten highest-scoring projects were selected as finalists and will pitch live in an online final on Oct. 30, 2026, when the ranking for the $100,000 USDC pool will be decided, according to the post.
Evidence and context
The challenge is designed to promote functioning pay-per-request services rather than concepts or prototypes, according to background material verified Oct. 22, 2026. Participants are required to deploy paid x402 endpoints on Algorand MainNet and settle payments through the GoPlausible facilitator, with public tracking of usage. The competition's stated goals include commercially useful services, real on-chain usage, technical execution and long-term product potential.
Algorand said it has also published the material behind the leaderboard, including a report from GoPlausible covering settlement analysis, cleaning methodology, merchant-level analysis and payer-level evidence, with registrant personal data removed. The foundation said it also published the leaderboard and judging sheet with personal information removed to show the ranking inputs and scoring used for the challenge.
The post does not provide individual USDC settlement totals for each project, nor does it disclose any market data for ALGO in the material supplied. It also includes a disclaimer stating the content is for informational purposes only and is not legal, financial or investment advice.
Separately, verified background material notes that x402 is an open payment standard introduced by Coinbase on May 6, 2025, using HTTP's 402 Payment Required response to support stablecoin payments in web interactions. In this challenge, however, x402 refers to the payment workflow used by projects on Algorand rather than a token.