Writing on the Eve of the X402 Narrative Explosion: PING is Just the Appetizer, Bigger Hype Is Yet to Come

Writing on the eve of the explosive popularity of x402 narrative, let’s first clarify some basic understandings:

1. Whether it’s Ping, or the upcoming Pong, they are just signals ahead of x402’s breakout, intended to accelerate the market’s recognition of the great x402 narrative. Although x402 primarily focuses on a practical communication protocol (completely unnecessary to FOMO over), the market always delights in the game of gilding the lily.

2. x402 is not an isolated technological innovation. Previously, MCP provided connectivity capabilities, A2A offered multi-model collaboration, and combined with x402’s payment capabilities, they form a complete closed loop. The rise of x402 can invigorate the entire AI Agent track, including niche DeAI platforms and valuable AI Agent applications.

3. x402 is a crypto payment component jointly developed by Google, Coinbase, and the Ethereum Foundation, aiming to enable AI Agents to seamlessly handle stablecoins, Ether, and other crypto assets. Additionally, it has integrated with 60 payment partners and crypto business models. Undoubtedly, x402 will drive the integration of Web2 and Web3, leading to a surge of related startup projects—some issuing tokens, others not, with a dazzling array.

4. Currently, the market is in a narrative vacuum, desperately craving new stories. The continued decline of MEME hype, the ineffectiveness of Chinese Ticker speculation, the passive RWA narrative, the lack of innovation in DeFi—all point toward a broader imaginative space. Prediction markets led by Polymarket are a prime example. x402 happens to be timely, and the Base ecosystem will also do its best to promote it.

5. Every major narrative launch is inevitably followed by a batch of opportunistic projects riding the wave—some just add a line about compatibility with the x402 protocol in their whitepapers to jump on the narrative train, or directly fork projects that build infrastructure related to x402 to issue tokens. This pattern mirrors the previous AI Agent boom. Fortunately, lessons learned from that cycle mean fake x402 concept projects will serve as fuel, and truly valuable projects will gradually emerge.

6. There’s no need to worry excessively. The true value of the x402 protocol may take 1-2 years to fully realize, but some promising projects are already underway—such as KiteAI, a Layer 1 designed specifically for Agent payments; Skyfire, a payment identity verification protocol; FluxA, an embedded payment channel; and more valuable projects are expected to emerge. We can patiently wait for the blossoms to bloom!