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Spend policies protect AI agent budgets in autonomous citation systems through enforceable, on-chain spend controls that bind agent behavior before payment execution. The CitePay Natural Language Policy Builder converts plain-English instructions into validated JSON policies with 9 parameters including max price per citation, min relevance score, bonded-source requirements, and session caps. Forum Protocol's covenant account mandates make spend controls enforceable rather than advisory, publishing receipts that prove compliance. Shadow Float enables agents to operate within pre-funded spending lines on Arc before their own wallet is funded, with blocked-overreach receipts preventing budget breach. Circle Gateway batches x402 authorizations to clear sub-cent payments without per-transaction gas, keeping per-citation costs predictable. Arc's sub-second finality and USDC settlement ensure every citation payment is immediately auditable on-chain. CitePay's on-chain audit page reads directly from Arc Testnet RPC to show DCW wallet balance, transaction count, and USDC paid to creators—no database, pure chain verification. Together, these mechanisms create a closed loop: policies define spend rules, on-chain settlement executes them atomically, and transparent receipts prove the agent stayed within budget.