{
  "$schema": "https://blackwalltier.com/schemas/x402-oracle-comparison.v1.json",
  "title": "x402 payment-risk oracles, compared",
  "category": "payment-risk / agent-guardrails",
  "updated": "2026-06-30",
  "summary": "Comparison of pre-payment risk services an AI agent can call before signing an x402 payment. These layers are complementary, not mutually exclusive: endpoint-readiness (Ontario), counterparty payment-risk (Blackwall), and compliance/KYT (AnChain-class) answer different questions.",
  "axes": [
    "question_answered",
    "verdict_output",
    "runs_pre_signature",
    "judges_counterparty_payment_behavior",
    "judges_price_fairness",
    "sanctions_screening",
    "judges_endpoint_readiness",
    "takes_custody",
    "interfaces",
    "cost_model"
  ],
  "tools": [
    {
      "name": "Blackwall",
      "vendor": "BlueTier",
      "url": "https://agent-egress-proxy.onrender.com",
      "descriptor": "https://agent-egress-proxy.onrender.com/.well-known/x402",
      "question_answered": "Should my agent trust this payee with this payment, at this price?",
      "verdict_output": "GO / HOLD / STOP + signed receipt",
      "runs_pre_signature": true,
      "judges_counterparty_payment_behavior": "yes — Bayesian trust from on-chain settlement history; dispute signal activates as outcomes accrue",
      "judges_price_fairness": "yes — quoted amount vs the counterparty's own per-payer median; STOP at >= 8x (wash-trade-hardened)",
      "sanctions_screening": "yes — OFAC sanctioned-address screening, auto-refreshed from the 0xB10C feed (best-effort, not legal advice)",
      "judges_endpoint_readiness": "yes — folds a self-scored readiness grade into the verdict",
      "takes_custody": false,
      "interfaces": ["HTTP API (POST /v1/forecast-payment)", "MCP tool forecast_payment (stdio)"],
      "cost_model": "x402 pay-per-forecast; free under $10 at risk",
      "status": "live on Base (mainnet-configured), pre-traffic"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ontario Protocol",
      "url": "https://ontarioprotocol.com",
      "question_answered": "Is this endpoint set up correctly and within my budget?",
      "verdict_output": "allow / review / deny (free /api/agent/can-pay)",
      "runs_pre_signature": true,
      "judges_counterparty_payment_behavior": "no — reputation via EAS attestations (declarative), not behavioral settlement history",
      "judges_price_fairness": "price-aware vs your budget cap, not a fairness baseline",
      "sanctions_screening": "no",
      "judges_endpoint_readiness": "yes — this is its core (402 implemented, manifest, https, openapi, reachability)",
      "takes_custody": "advisory; optional settlement proxy",
      "interfaces": ["HTTP API", "MCP"],
      "cost_model": "free can-pay; paid listings and trust-scans",
      "note": "Complementary. Ontario's readiness grade can be consumed as one input to Blackwall's verdict."
    },
    {
      "name": "KYT / compliance (AnChain, Chainalysis, TRM, Elliptic)",
      "question_answered": "Is this wallet sanctioned or tied to illicit flows?",
      "verdict_output": "screen result / wallet risk score",
      "runs_pre_signature": "at compliance screening, not as an x402 pre-signature verdict",
      "judges_counterparty_payment_behavior": "no",
      "judges_price_fairness": "no",
      "sanctions_screening": "yes — this is its core",
      "judges_endpoint_readiness": "no",
      "takes_custody": false,
      "interfaces": ["API", "some via MCP"],
      "cost_model": "enterprise-priced"
    }
  ],
  "honest_notes": [
    "Blackwall is pre-traffic and its MCP transport is stdio-only today (remote HTTP planned).",
    "Blackwall screens the counterparty against the OFAC sanctioned-address list, refreshed from the 0xB10C feed (best-effort, not legal advice).",
    "Competitor facts about Ontario are from a byte-level read of its public OpenAPI and trust manifests (2026-06-29); the x402 ecosystem moves weekly — re-verify before relying on this.",
    "These services are complementary layers, not direct substitutes."
  ]
}