Definition
Micro-Transaction
A very small financial transaction, typically under $1, enabled by low-fee blockchain networks for pay-per-call API pricing.
A micro-transaction is a payment small enough that traditional payment rails (credit cards, bank transfers) can't handle them economically — think $0.001 to $0.10 per API call. Blockchain networks like Base and Polygon make micro-transactions viable because gas fees are fractions of a cent. This enables true pay-per-call pricing: an AI agent can pay $0.003 for a search query, $0.01 for a web scrape, and $0.05 for an LLM inference — all as individual on-chain transactions.
Related terms
Pay-Per-Call
A pricing model where each individual API call is billed as a separate micro-transaction, rather than through subscriptions or rate-limited tiers.
On-Chain Settlement
The process of recording and finalizing a payment transaction on a blockchain, providing immutable proof of payment.
Base
A Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum by Coinbase, offering low fees and fast settlement — the default chain for Mithril payments.