Written on the eve of the x402 narrative explosion, let me first popularize some basic knowledge:
1) Both Ping and the upcoming Pong are just the clarion calls for the x402 to explode in popularity, accelerating the market's recognition of the x402's grand narrative. Although x402's main focus is a practical communication protocol (completely lacking the need for Fomo), the market is always interested in games that are engraved on gold.
2) x402 is not an isolated technological innovation. The connectivity provided by MCP and the multi-model collaboration provided by A2A, combined with the payment capabilities provided by x402, form a complete closed loop. x402 can revitalize the entire AI agent market, including the DeAI platform with a specific ecological niche and valuable AI agent applications.
3) x402 is a crypto payment component developed by Google, Coinbase, and the Ethereum Foundation. Its goal is to enable AI agents to seamlessly process stablecoins, ETH, and other crypto assets. Furthermore, it has connected with 60 payment partners and crypto businesses. Undoubtedly, x402 will drive the convergence of web2 and web3, leading to the emergence of a diverse array of related startups, both those issuing their own tokens and those not.
4) The current market is in a narrative vacuum, desperate for a new one. The continued decline in MEME popularity, the faltering hype surrounding Chinese Ticker, the passive nature of the RWA narrative, and the lack of innovation in DeFi all point to a narrative with greater potential. The prediction market, led by Polymarket, is undoubtedly one of them. x402 also happens to be perfectly timed, and the Base ecosystem will do its utmost to promote it.
5) Before each grand narrative launch, a wave of speculative projects inevitably emerge to capitalize on the hype. These projects might simply add a line in their whitepaper about being compatible with the x402 protocol to jump on the narrative bandwagon, or simply fork a legitimate x402-related infrastructure project and issue a token. This plays out exactly like the previous wave of AI agent hype. Fortunately, with the lessons learned from the previous round, these pseudo-402 concept projects will become fuel, and truly valuable projects will gradually emerge.
6) Don’t worry. It may take 1-2 years for the x402 protocol to truly realize its value. Fortunately, there are already some good projects on the way, such as L1 KiteAI, which is designed for agent payments.
, payment authentication protocol Skyfire, embedded payment channel FluxA, etc. I believe that there will be more valuable projects coming out, just wait and see!
