@patk

Founder & CEO @Proof. Building the rails for trusted identity so humans & AI can transact instantly, globally, and free of fraud. Creators of @x401id @notarize

Boston, MA
Joined January 2007
Today @proof is launching a @Cloudflare Worker for X401. Enabling near instant deployment so Cloudflare customers can protect any endpoint and require verified identity and authorization.
A Worker gets a request from an AI agent. It can’t tell who sent it, or whether that person approved this. x401 now works with Cloudflare Workers: the Worker asks, the person approves in their Proof wallet, the Worker verifies. See it at #Money2020, Booth 5069: hubs.la/Q04BGT8R0
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Founder and CEO @proof, @patk on how HTTP 401 makes identity verifiable: "So if you go to a site and it can't load, you get a 400, for example. And so four zero one has always been the status code for identity and authorization." "So it can say I need identity. I specifically need a verified email address, your name, your date of birth, whatever it is they can specify." "A verifiable credential chains all the way back to source to source. And every step, proof has been audited for how we verify identity, how we issue credentials, how we store credentials, how we manage authentication and access." "So that chip on your card is a PKI certificate, and so proof issues PKI certificates for human identity that can sign transactions just like a credit card can with a cryptogram."
Don't block agents. Identify them. @sytaylor is joined by @patk , founder and CEO @proof Pat Kinsel has built an open framework to identify agents that is compatible with how banks do KYC today. It's called x401, built on the internet's HTTP 401 "authorization is required" But the really clever bit is the fact that it then uses verifiable credentials that are IAL2 certified to prove the authentication for the underlying human. Why's that clever? Because that's the same standard the US government published under the National Institute of Science and Technology NIST, and the one that FinCEN recently gave guidance on as being usable in bank Customer Identification Programs (CIP). Check out the entire video to know more Timestamps: 00:00 Proof launches x401 to bring trusted identity to AI agents 01:25 How x401 and verifiable credentials establish cryptographic identity 02:45 Should businesses block AI agents or verify their authority? 03:30 Why authentication alone cannot satisfy financial institutions' compliance obligations 04:34 Amazon's agent blocking, credential sharing risks and explicit consent 06:18 How x401 complements x402 payments and stablecoin-powered machine transactions 08:24 Transaction signing and binding prove an agent has delegated authority 10:00 How independent audits and identity standards establish trust in Proof 11:15 Why open identity standards matter for interoperability and stablecoin adoption 12:20 How verifiable authorization reduces payment fraud and addresses liability
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Resonates with me
Charlie Songhurst on why "boring and complex" companies may offer the best returns
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Pat Kinsel retweeted
Know Your Agent coming online. x401 agent identity proofs alongside x402 agent payments is a strong step towards safer and more trustworthy agentic economic activity.
Circle 🤝 @proof With Proof, we’re exploring how agents can prove who they act for and pay in USDC in one exchange. Verified identity through x401. USDC payments through x402 and Circle Agent Wallets. See the joint demo at @money2020, booth 5069. globenewswire.com/news-relea…
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Pat Kinsel retweeted
agentic identity is one of the most important primitives being worked on today! @circle 🤝 @proof
Proof + @circle: At Money2020, both teams will share a demo of an AI agent proving who they act on behalf of (x401) and paying in @USDC (x402) in the same exchange. See it live at #Money2020, booth 5069: hubs.la/Q04BzGrL0
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Good morning, USA! You will find the first x401 production demo, powered by Superfluid Wallet, at Proof's booth. You can win 1000 USDC by entering our raffle - where else but at @money2020 Las Vegas! To participate: Copy the prompt. Paste it to your Agent. Send. Verify your humanness, and you are in!
Who vouches for an AI agent acting in your customer’s name? Until today, nobody. Now the open x401 protocol is live: any site can ask an agent for verified legal identity and signed approval. No Proof contract. See it at Money20/20, booth 5069: hubs.la/Q04BfNkW0
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Founder and CEO @proof, @patk on how x401 and x402 compose: "We think they're different for a reason, and what they need to do is compose." "If you think about an API or agent to agent service, they're not gonna go sign a contract, not gonna make an enterprise commitment. They want streaming payment." "People can enroll in our system at the edge, pay us through x four zero two, not make volume commitments, pay transactionally." "Sometimes you're just paying for something and sometimes you're just identifying yourself. If you're opening an account, you're not paying.”
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It's alive!
One day we'll have to Know Your Agent instead of blocking them. There's a new protocol for just that. And it is compatible with how banks do KYC I cannot under emphasize how massive that is You're going to want to check out x401 👇
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Pat Kinsel retweeted
One day we'll have to Know Your Agent instead of blocking them. There's a new protocol for just that. And it is compatible with how banks do KYC I cannot under emphasize how massive that is You're going to want to check out x401 👇
Don't block agents. Identify them. @sytaylor is joined by @patk , founder and CEO @proof Pat Kinsel has built an open framework to identify agents that is compatible with how banks do KYC today. It's called x401, built on the internet's HTTP 401 "authorization is required" But the really clever bit is the fact that it then uses verifiable credentials that are IAL2 certified to prove the authentication for the underlying human. Why's that clever? Because that's the same standard the US government published under the National Institute of Science and Technology NIST, and the one that FinCEN recently gave guidance on as being usable in bank Customer Identification Programs (CIP). Check out the entire video to know more Timestamps: 00:00 Proof launches x401 to bring trusted identity to AI agents 01:25 How x401 and verifiable credentials establish cryptographic identity 02:45 Should businesses block AI agents or verify their authority? 03:30 Why authentication alone cannot satisfy financial institutions' compliance obligations 04:34 Amazon's agent blocking, credential sharing risks and explicit consent 06:18 How x401 complements x402 payments and stablecoin-powered machine transactions 08:24 Transaction signing and binding prove an agent has delegated authority 10:00 How independent audits and identity standards establish trust in Proof 11:15 Why open identity standards matter for interoperability and stablecoin adoption 12:20 How verifiable authorization reduces payment fraud and addresses liability
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An idea: the mega conference. Everyone just agrees to meet in the same place at the same time.
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What. Why.
JUST IN: A full highlight reel of all the stunts performed at the Tesla Roadster event
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Proof launches x401, our MCP, and Verifiable Credentials to give agents legal identity and authorization.
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Nobel prize worthy peace plan
introducing FindMyWifePhone™️ my latest shortcut squarely placed on the pareto frontier. there is no easier & cheaper way to find your wife's phone. "honey, do you know where my phone is?" the fuck I dont! "can you call me?!" she keeps her phone on silent. so i made this shortcut to help. trigger = i send her a text with !ping in it action = hey phone sets a timer for 1s timer always works, we like to keep our phones on silent + dnd and we dont use apple watches. so finding each other's phones used to be a challenge. we both have this set up in reverse, and its worked well. bonus shortcut = button in home screen widget to send !ping to my wife (we also have one called !awaken which disables silent, sets volume to max & disables do not disturb in case of emergency)
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We are in the FTP + Wordpress + Plugins era of Agentic apps. That wasn't much fun and nor is this.
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I had the good fortune of working with @CristinCulver for several years. Cannot recommend her more highly for her work and for who she is as a person. Love seeing her in the spotlight.
The name I recommend most to top founders who value comms is @CristinCulver. She thinks differently, knows everyone, puts companies on the map, & cracks me up when we gab on the phone. axios.com/2026/10/08/communi…
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