The inscription (BRC20) made countless people understand a truth: once a technical standard is activated, it can create an entire new wealth system. By 2025, this "standard explosion" occurred again.
This time, the protagonist is the x402 protocol. It is the "inscription of the AI era" and the foundation for the next layer of Web3.
Today I have analyzed x402 from the perspective of [Technical Standards → Wealth System], and I believe that the possible wealth effect of x402 may exceed that of Ordinals.
Next, we will share how to buy new shares on x402. This article is divided into the following aspects:
- Why you should care about x402
- Previous failed agreements
- Community consensus based on x402 market performance
- x402 IPO Tutorial
- x402 related tools
1. Why should you pay attention to x402?
For more information on what x402 is, please refer to this morning's popular science article. Here I will only discuss the logic behind the outbreak:
X402 Wealth Effect, May Exceed Ordinals
x402 has been out for half a year. It was originally just a small circle of developers’ topics, but because $PING soared 150 times , it suddenly became the focus of the entire network.
Many people think that comparing it to Ordinals is unprofessional, but in fact, you only need to look back at history to understand: ERC-721 opened up the NFT world, ERC-1155 gave blockchain games an economic system, and Ordinals (BRC20) brought a wave of wealth from inscriptions.
Protocols such as ERC-721, ERC-1155, and Ordinals all demonstrate that once technical standards are activated, they can create a whole new wealth system.
When these "era-changing protocols" first came out, no one paid much attention. It was not until the meme-like tokens on them became popular that people realized that the real wealth opportunities are often hidden in "technical standards that no one understands."
x402 is currently in the same cycle. It's not a project, but rather a low-level payment protocol that enables websites, AI, and games to automatically collect payments. It's a new gateway into the AI + Payments + Web3 economy.
2. Previous failed agreements
Not every protocol succeeds; some fail, such as ERC-404. ( If ERC-404 passes, will it be as widespread as ERC-20? What opportunities does it present? )
ERC-404 was incredibly popular in 2024. At that time, everyone was shouting "the ultimate fusion of tokens + NFTs", but three months later, no one mentioned it again.
The problem with ERC-404 being ignored is that its story is too "engineering" and most retail investors simply cannot understand it or use it.
So the project team hyped up the hype and took over the market themselves, leaving retail investors with only a short-term investment before everyone left. The end result: standards weren't implemented, and the ecosystem wasn't sustained. Former Pandora, DeFrogs, and Numoen all went under.
ERC-404 isn't a technical flaw, but rather a soulless narrative. It hasn't fostered the meme culture of "participation = consensus = identity."
From the perspective of "wealth flow"
- ERC-404 money → from short-term hype
- x402’s money → comes from narrative + new demands + real implementation
- ERC-404 is a "speculation protocol"
- x402 has the potential to become a "use protocol"
This is crucial: ERC-404 remains a "hyped-up meme," while x402 has the potential to become a "meme that can be spent money."
3. x402 Community Consensus from x402 Market Performance
x402 is expected to appear and be launched (developed/released) in February 2025 , and enter a more formal standardization/ecological promotion stage in September 2025 .
Currently, in the x402 sector, there is only one coin that has increased by 100 times, and the market performance is as follows:
In terms of popularity, x402 hasn't yet reached the levels of ERC-721 and Inscription, and there's a real fear it could become ERC-404. If it follows the same path as ERC-404, x402 will likely only be of interest to developers in the future. If you enter the market today, you're likely to be left hanging.
From the comparison chart, it seems that x402 will go further:
There is nothing wrong with ERC-404 technology, but it has not formed the meme culture of "participation = consensus = identity".
Judging from the community consensus, x402 is much smarter and has the potential to become a "Meme that can be spent money"
x402 isn't a new blockchain or a token. It's a protocol standard that enables web pages, AI, and blockchain games to automatically collect payments. It sounds boring, but it hits a key trend: AI × Web3 × payments .
When $PING used x402 to implement the "pay-per-coin" model, this matter changed from an engineering experiment to "National Inscription 2.0".
1 USDC is traded once, just like a coin. Earn money while trading and participate in the "technological revolution."
It’s like when Ordinals first came out: no one understood what Bitcoin inscriptions were, but everyone wanted to try it out.
This bridge of "technology + participation is wealth" is the soul of Meme.
3. x402 IPO Tutorial
It's important to note that $ping, as the leading cryptocurrency, has already been defeated, and many Chinese teams are now taking advantage of the situation to launch trading platforms. These platforms are similar to the "rat community" that affected the Inscriptions wave. Retail investors who were cut are now defending their rights. Several bloggers, unable to withstand the pressure, wanted to leave the community, but ultimately couldn't bear to abandon their accounts and returned in disgrace.
No matter what the final result is, now that a new agreement has come out, according to the principle of "technical standards = establishment of a new wealth system", let's take a look first to see if there is any result.
Let’s take a look at how to buy new coins (for coins that have already been listed, please purchase them on exchanges):
- Prepare USDC and ETH on the Base chain in advance
Method 1: Use x402scan.com to buy new shares
- Related link: https://www.x402scan.com/
- Link wallet in the upper right corner
- In the Top Servers section of the page, select a popular project and click on it;
- Find the “Try Resources” option and turn it on
- Click the green "Fetch" button
- The wallet pops up a signature confirmation, authorizing 1 USDC payment
- Wait for on-chain confirmation (usually 2–10 seconds)
- After success, the tokens will be automatically credited to your account
- You can check your balance in your wallet or block explorer
It should be noted that:
- During peak hours, the server may be congested and require multiple attempts (referred to as "stuck").
- Each mint consumes a fixed amount of 1 USDC
- Mint cannot continue operation after closing the window
Method 2: Using x402station
In addition to scoring the server, this tool can also check whether x402 has been completed.
If you haven't finished the fight, you can continue, but it is not recommended to fight more than 98%. If you are not successful, it will be a waste of money.
- Related link: https://x402station.com/services
Method 3: Using the OKX Wallet (equivalent to purchasing on the secondary market)
Method 1: Once the project is completed, you can trade on the chain. If you choose OKX for trading, please refer to the official tutorial:
x402 can only be traded after it is listed on OKX. If you want to trade the leading tokens mentioned above, you can trade them on uniswap.
4. x402 related tools
(1) Price Increase Viewing Platform
- CoinGecko X402 Ecosystem: https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/x402-ecosystem
- GeckoTerminal (DEX data expert): https://www.geckoterminal.com/category/x402-protocol
(2) Professional Analysis Platform
- x402scan, eco-browser, minting, real-time transaction volume tracking: https://www.x402scan.com/
- x402station, service reliability score, API analysis, performance dashboard, real-time monitoring of X402 service performance and success rate. https://x402station.com/
- x402atlas, transaction tracking, seller/buyer activity, resource popularity, facilitator rankings: https://x402atlas.com/
(3) Data
- PayAI x402 Facilitator: https://dune.com/payai/facilitator
- Commerce Payments Protocol: https://dune.com/sealaunch/commerce-payments-protocol
- X402 Tokenization Dashboard: https://dune.com/1dolinski/the-tokenization-of-the-internets-data-flow-x402-apinowfun
- Base Meme Token Analysis: https://dune.com/pseudocode88_aux/base-meme-token-analysis
Summarize
From 2020 to now, we have experienced many breakthroughs in technical standards, such as ERC-721 opening up the NFT world, ERC-1155 allowing chain games to have an economic system, and Ordinals bringing a wave of wealth from inscriptions.
When these "epoch-changing protocols" first emerged, few paid much attention. It wasn't until they became popular that people realized the true wealth opportunities often lie within "unintelligible technical standards." This also proves that "once activated, technical standards can create an entire new wealth system."
Among them, the one that is most likely to break out of the circle and attract a large number of people's attention is memecoin. Obviously, x402 has the opportunity to become a liquid ecosystem, and there will definitely be more than just $ping memecoin.
If there's only one, ERC-404 2.0. But if dozens of projects, AI agents, and blockchain games all connect to x404 settlement, it will be "an Ordinary Moment in the AI Era."
To sum up in one sentence: x402 has written "payment" into web3. In the process of going viral, it needs memes to gain emotions, but only those who can leave behind agreements are the infrastructure of the new era.
