Why is PING like Bitcoin inscriptions back in the day? The Pandora's box of the x402 protocol has already been opened.

Why Do People Say PING Is Like the Inscriptions Back in the BTC Days?

Recently, the Meme coin PING on the x402 protocol suddenly became popular. Many people instinctively feel that “something’s off, this looks a lot like the BTC inscription boom of 2023.” But in what ways does it resemble? Will it follow the old path of inscriptions? My answer is: most likely.

First, let’s talk about the underlying logic of why it resembles.

On-chain data + off-chain adjudication dual gameplay

The inscription approach is actually quite clever: you send transactions to the BTC mainnet, occupying a specific UTXO, but the BTC mainnet itself doesn’t determine whether this transaction “counts”. The real judge is the Ordinals indexer—acting like a third-party referee, scanning all on-chain transaction records and judging which inscriptions are valid or invalid based on a self-defined rule like “First is First.”

PING’s scheme is almost identical. Users transfer USDC to a specific address ( on the Base chain, which is dynamically assigned by ) x402scan. On the Base chain and within the x402 protocol, this is just an ordinary ERC20 transfer with nothing special. But the x402scan indexer differs—it scans all USDC transfers to designated addresses on the Base chain, records transactions off-chain based on the rule of 1 USDC = 5000 PING, and then distributes tokens via a smart contract.

See? It’s all about the combo of “legitimate on-chain data + off-chain interpretation rights.”

Not Popular, But Unswayable

When inscriptions first emerged, the Bitcoin Core team was quite annoyed—BTC mainnet was filled with dust transactions, mostly hype with little real value. The current doubts about PING are similar: the USDC minted by users all go into a treasury wallet designated by x402scan, the team is doing crowdfunding while issuing tokens, and the x402 protocol from start to finish is basically being “free-ridden.”

But like the BTC mainnet, as an open standard, the x402 protocol can’t control this in the short term.

That said, this kind of “call to arms” operation has huge exposure value for the x402 track. Forcibly creating use cases yields immediate results and also acts as a stress test. This can be considered a “singularity moment” in the x402 narrative, and will likely lead to a series of improvements and ecological projects.

Will It Evolve Like Inscriptions?

Yes, and it has already begun.

The core of PING is essentially the x402scan indexer, but the problem lies here: asset custody under centralized entities contradicts the original intent of the x402 protocol to open payment channels for AI Agents; it might not seamlessly be compatible with other x402 protocols; there’s no unified standard for minting, transferring, or burning…

So, referencing the evolution path from BRC20→ARC20→SRC20→Runes, a bunch of new protocols claiming to be “more orthodox” will definitely emerge:

• Improving custody methods, moving toward decentralized custody
• Changing the way minting transactions are done to optimize user experience
• Striving for native protocol support to enhance compatibility

To be dramatic, even if x402scan runs away or the treasury scams off with funds, the wave has already started. Once Pandora’s box is opened, it can’t be closed.

Final Words

The explosion of the x402 narrative is basically a certainty; PING has just sounded the charge. How the market will evolve afterward? Too many possibilities.

But there’s no need to panic too much. The excitement that should be joined in is still worth participating in. The above is purely personal insight and does not constitute any investment advice.