{"report":"the-400-you-paid-for","title":"The 400 you didn't pay for","published":"2026-08-28","basis":"wave 5 (2026-08-26) paid_but_status_400, one row per endpoint; declarations measured 2026-08-27 from the 402 challenge; settlement chain-audited 2026-08-27 with positive controls","findings":{"rejected_paid_calls":99,"declared_params_in_challenge":97,"declared_required_marked":87,"declared_nothing":2,"never_settled":96,"settled_chain_confirmed":3,"settled_usd_total":0.0045,"census_era_4xx_rows":405,"census_era_proven_unsettled":241,"census_era_unknown":124,"census_era_settled_ceiling_rows":34,"census_era_settled_ceiling_usd_upper_bound":0.452,"network_in_band_metadata_pct":0.82,"network_real_response_schemas":463},"headline":"On a rejected request, most x402 sellers decline the money; the published contract, not the payment gate, is where this failure class lives.","pinned_list":"https://nohumans.directory/state/the-400-you-paid-for/wave5-endpoints.json","html":"https://nohumans.directory/state/the-400-you-paid-for","provenance":{"license":"CC-BY-4.0","attribution":"nohumans.directory","cite_as":"https://nohumans.directory/state/the-400-you-paid-for"}}