SKALE Encrypted Transactions - BITE V1 on All SKALE Chains

The x402 payments through RelAI on SKALE chains now support encrypted transactions through BITE. Whether you're on SKALE Base, SKALE Base Sepolia, or SKALE BITE Sandbox, your x402 payments are encrypted in the mempool and decrypted only after consensus.

What is BITE?

BITE (Blockchain Integrated Threshold Encryption) provides transaction-level encryption for SKALE chains. Every transaction submitted to a BITE-enabled chain is encrypted before entering the mempool and decrypted only after block inclusion is finalized.

• No MEV extraction - payment transactions cannot be front-run or sandwiched
• No payment sniping - the signed transferWithAuthorization is invisible until settled
• Privacy by default - transaction amounts and participants are hidden until finalized

The above description refers to BITE V1. For more information about BITE, visit the SKALE BITE documentation. If you want to explore BITE V2 conditional transactions, see SKALE Conditional Transactions docs.

How It Works

The payment flow is identical to any other EVM network:

1. API returns HTTP 402 with x402 v2 payment requirements
2. User signs an EIP-3009 transferWithAuthorization - a single off-chain signature
3. Transaction is encrypted off-chain using the BITE SDK - for more information, visit @skalenetwork/bite
4. RelAI submits the encrypted transaction - execution is covered by SKALE's Credits Model
5. BITE decrypts after consensus - USDC moves from buyer to merchant atomically
6. User receives the API response - instant access

Technical Details

SKALE Base

SKALE Base Sepolia

SKALE BITE Sandbox

Why Encrypted Transactions Matter for x402

MEV Protection

On public mempools, a signed transferWithAuthorization is visible before execution. A sophisticated attacker could theoretically extract value by observing payment patterns. With BITE V1, this vector does not exist - the authorization is encrypted until after execution.

Agent Privacy

As AI agents increasingly use x402 to pay for API access, the pattern of which agents call which APIs becomes valuable intelligence. BITE ensures this pattern is not observable on-chain until after the fact.

Comparison

For Developers

Setting Up SKALE Base Payments

{
  network: 'skale-base',
  facilitator: 'relai',
  pricing: {
    'GET /data': { amount: '100' }  // $0.0001 in USDC (6 decimals)
  }
}

Using the RelAI SDK

import { createX402Client } from '@relai-fi/x402'
const client = createX402Client({
  wallets: {
    evm: {
      address: userAddress,
      signTypedData: (params) => signer.signTypedData(params.domain, params.types, params.message),
    }
  },
  facilitatorUrl: 'https://facilitator.x402.fi',
})
const response = await client.fetch('https://your-api.com/data')
// Same SDK, same flow - BITE encryption is transparent to the developer

Network Selection

• Use network: 'skale-base' for SKALE Base
• Encrypted transactions (BITE V1)
• Credits Model execution
• Full MEV protection

• Use network: 'skale-base-sepolia' for SKALE Base Sepolia
• Encrypted transactions (BITE V1)
• Credits Model execution
• Testnet environment

• Use network: 'skale-bite' for SKALE BITE Sandbox
• Encrypted + conditional transactions (BITE V1 + BITE V2)
• Credits Model execution
• Testing environment

Use Cases

• AI agent payments - agents paying for data feeds, model inference, and tool access without revealing their strategy
• Competitive intelligence APIs - consuming market data without broadcasting which datasets you're buying
• High-frequency micropayments - thousands of sub-cent API calls with credit-based execution and zero MEV
• Private API marketplaces - buyers and sellers transact without public visibility of usage patterns
• Production micropayments - SKALE Base for live applications with encrypted transactions

Start Building

SKALE Base, SKALE Base Sepolia, and SKALE BITE Sandbox support is live now on the RelAI Facilitator. Set network: 'skale-base', network: 'skale-base-sepolia', or network: 'skale-bite' in your API configuration and start accepting encrypted USDC payments.

New to RelAI? Check out our quickstart guide or explore the marketplace to see x402 APIs in action.

Need protocol context first? Read the x402 overview.