Glossary
ERC-3009 transfer authorization
A signed message authorising a token transfer that someone else submits and pays gas for — the mechanism most x402 payments settle with.
ERC-3009 adds signature-based transfers to a token: the holder signs a typed message naming recipient, amount, validity window and a nonce, and any party can submit that message to move the funds. The holder never sends a transaction and never needs native gas.
That is exactly the shape an HTTP payment needs. In x402 the client signs an authorization, attaches it to the retried request, and the server or its facilitator submits it — which is why an agent with only a stablecoin balance can pay for an API call.
An authorization is a signature, not a payment: it can be replayed within its window by whoever holds it, it expires, and it says nothing about whether the resource being paid for is worth anything.
Where Sato Hub measures it
Numbers live on those pages and refresh on their own schedule; this definition does not restate them.
Related terms
Sources
Cite this page
Sato Hub. "ERC-3009 transfer authorization (glossary)." Sato Hub, updated 2026-09-14, accessed 2026-09-14. https://satohub.ai/glossary/erc-3009-authorizationData last refreshed 2026-09-14; this page is rebuilt daily. Citations carry the date so a reader can tell which snapshot a claim came from. Catalog data is licensed CC-BY-4.0.