From the Inscription Craze to the x402 Ecosystem: The Core Logic of a New Wave of Meme Coins

Core Benchmarking

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the x402 protocol and PING, this Meme coin. Many say it closely resembles the inscription craze of BTC in 2023. This analogy is indeed interesting, so let me break down why it’s so similar.

The core lies in a shared architecture: storing real data on-chain, with off-chain interpretation rights.

How do inscriptions work? Users send transactions to the BTC mainnet, owning specific UTXOs, but the BTC mainnet itself has no idea what inscriptions are. The real power lies with Ordinals, the indexer— it scans all transactions on-chain and judges which are valid inscriptions based on the “First is First” rule. Essentially, the BTC mainnet only handles data reception, while the actual value judgment is delegated to a third party.

The PING protocol follows the same pattern. Users transfer USDC on the Base chain to a certain address (which is dynamically returned by x402scan). On-chain, this looks like a normal ERC20 transfer; no one knows what you are minting. The “meaning” of this transaction as a mint is precisely given by the x402scan indexer—it listens to transactions on the Base chain, applies its own rules (e.g., 1 USDC exchanges for 5000 tokens), and records the data in an off-chain database, distributing tokens via smart contracts.

The Inevitable Evolution

Back then, the BTC Core team was opposed to inscriptions, with a straightforward reason: aside from accumulating dust transactions on the mainnet, they had little practical value. The same logic applies to the x402 protocol— but this actually highlights a key point: as an open standard, if you’re dissatisfied, there’s little you can do.

A detail worth noting: ultimately, inscription data is still written on the BTC mainnet. If the inscriptions are lost, at least some BTC can be refunded. But what about PING? All minted tokens actually go into the treasury wallet specified by x402scan. It’s akin to crowdfunding while issuing tokens, with the x402 protocol itself being “free-ridden” once again.

Don’t rush to rebut. This approach actually has another layer of meaning—it forcibly creates usage scenarios for the x402 protocol, and the effect is quite immediate. To some extent, this is also a stress test for the entire protocol. More importantly, this phenomenon will drive improvements, potentially evolving into a catalyst for ecosystem prosperity.

Future Directions

The answer is definitely evolution similar to inscriptions. But the x402scan indexer has obvious issues: assets are held under centralized entities, which contradicts the original intent of the x402 protocol (to create payment channels for AI Agents); compatibility is questionable—there are no unified standards for minting, transferring, or burning tokens—these are hidden dangers.

Following the evolution path from BRC20 → ARC20 → SRC20 → Runes, it’s inevitable that a bunch of new, supposedly more “orthodox” variants will emerge. Some will improve custody methods, some will change minting formats, some will seek native protocol support—all kinds of variations will appear.

Even if x402scan goes offline or the Treasury runs off with funds, this wave cannot be stopped. The Pandora’s box has already been opened, and the subsequent evolution is irreversible.

Conclusion

The explosion of the x402 narrative is highly probable. PING has just sounded the charge; how the market develops next is anyone’s guess. These are just logical analyses and do not constitute investment advice. But since everyone has recognized this opportunity, the upcoming excitement is worth riding along.