How Capture Works — C2PA + ERC-7053 + x402 in One Stack

Step by step

From shutter to settled USDC

1. Sign with C2PA

A camera, AI inference server, or editorial CMS embeds a C2PA Content Credential block into the file. The block contains creator identity, a trusted timestamp, edit history, and a cryptographic signature.

Standard: C2PA 2.0

2. Register with ERC-7053

A content-hash and license URI are written to the Numbers Mainnet. This survives any metadata stripping — even if the C2PA block is removed, the file's hash still resolves to the on-chain record.

Standard: ERC-7053

3. Expose via x402

Capture provisions an HTTP endpoint that returns the file only after a valid x402 micropayment. Any agent or app can call the URL; payment, license, and audit happen in one round-trip.

Standard: x402

A worked example

Photojournalist → AI agent in 3 steps

# 1. Capture: ProofSnap signs the photo on-device
photo.jpg
├── C2PA credential (creator, time, GPS, signature)
└── 64-byte SHA hash

# 2. Register: ERC-7053 record on Numbers Mainnet
{
  "contentHash": "0x9af4...",
  "owner":       "did:numbers:0xCAFE...",
  "license":     "https://example.com/terms",
  "timestamp":   1717891200
}

# 3. License: x402 endpoint returned to the creator
GET https://licensing.captureapp.xyz/asset/9af4...
  → 402 Payment Required
  → AI agent pays $0.05 USDC
  → 200 OK + file + on-chain consent receipt

Each layer answers a different question

Why three standards

Layer	Question it answers	What survives
C2PA	"Who made this and how was it edited?"	Until metadata is stripped
ERC-7053	"Does this hash exist on-chain, when, and under whose key?"	Forever (decentralised chain)
x402	"Did the agent pay for this fetch, with what consent?"	Forever (on-chain receipt per fetch)

Frequently asked

How-it-works questions

Do these three standards have to be used together?

No, you can use any subset. C2PA alone gives you in-file provenance. C2PA + ERC-7053 adds metadata-survival. All three together unlocks AI-agent monetisation. Capture lets you adopt incrementally — most customers start with C2PA and layer in the rest as their needs grow.

Is Capture's stack proprietary?

No. C2PA is governed by the C2PA consortium (Adobe, Microsoft, BBC, etc.). ERC-7053 is an open Ethereum standard co-authored by Numbers Protocol. x402 is governed by the x402 Foundation (Coinbase + Cloudflare). Capture provides production infrastructure and SDKs, but every layer can be re-implemented by anyone.

Where does the user's data live?

The user controls it. C2PA credentials live inside the file, on the user's storage. ERC-7053 records contain only a content hash on the Numbers Mainnet — never the file itself. x402 receipts are also on-chain and only reference the asset by ID. Capture stores no user content by default.

How is this different from NFTs?

NFTs treat each asset as a unique token tied to a specific owner. Capture's ERC-7053 layer treats each asset as a discoverable provenance record — focused on history and verification, not ownership transfer. You can issue NFTs on top of Capture, but most use cases (compliance, licensing, archival) don't need them.

Three open standards. One round-trip.