Tools · Agent services & marketplaces
Routstr
A decentralized AI-inference marketplace where a Cashu token is the API key — pay per request in private Bitcoin ecash, no login, no KYC.
What it is
Routstr is a decentralized, permissionless AI-inference protocol and marketplace: a payment-gated reverse proxy in front of OpenAI-compatible LLM APIs where a Cashu token acts as the API key. Providers are discovered over Nostr, payment settles in private Bitcoin/Cashu micropayments, and there is no login, no account, and no credit card. It is the clearest deployed instance of an agent buying a service on the Bitcoin stack — and was named to HRF’s Top 15 Freedom Tech Projects of 2025.
This is the thesis running in production: an autonomous agent pays for its own inference, permissionlessly, at machine tempo.
When to use it
- Giving an agent permissionless, accountless access to frontier-model inference.
- Privacy-preserving LLM access where bearer-token payment beats a tracked API key.
- Demonstrating or building on the “agent buys a service” pattern end-to-end.
Quick start
Point an OpenAI-compatible client at a Routstr endpoint and supply a Cashu token as the API key; top up the token to add inference balance. See docs.routstr.com for the overview and the protocol repos (routstr-core, protocol, otrta-client) under github.com/Routstr. Check the repos for current release state — the protocol is under active development.
Gotchas
- The Cashu token is the API key (bearer model) — anyone who obtains it can spend the remaining balance. Guard it like cash.
- Inference providers are independent and pseudonymous; quality, uptime, and honesty vary by provider — there is no central SLA.
- Privacy depends on the chosen mint and provider; standard Cashu mint-trust caveats apply. See Cashu.