Research question
How should public evidence describe authority and payment readiness?
Proposed method
Map the published roles of AP2, MPP, x402 and the EMV draft framework. Record status and version separately from provider implementation. Treat authority, funding and settlement as separate dimensions.
What this cannot establish
No payment credentials, transaction attempts, private verification or compliance certification are part of this research. Public documentation cannot prove a merchant’s live payment behavior.
Publication gate — Research HOLD
Validate source scope, check unresolved conflicts, document the sample and review conclusions against the underlying observations. A finding may be published only at the level its evidence supports. Incomplete studies remain drafts, noindex and outside the production sitemap.