Why is the PING of x402 the next run of the inscription craze? A review of the operational logic from Ordinals to the Base chain

Recently, Meme coin PING on the x402 protocol has gone viral, and many are discussing whether its pattern resembles the BTC inscription wave of 2023. Honestly, it does— and the similarity runs deep into the core.

Core Similarity: On-chain Data + Off-chain Interpretative Power

How do inscriptions work? Users send transactions to the BTC mainnet, owning specific UTXOs, but the Bitcoin mainnet itself doesn’t know this is “casting inscriptions.” The real meaning is given by the indexer—Ordinals—which scans all on-chain transactions and, based on custom rules like “First is First,” determines which transactions are “valid inscriptions.”

What about PING? Almost the same logic. Users send USDC to specified addresses on the Base chain (dynamically returned by x402scan). The Base chain has no idea this is a minting action; in its eyes, it’s just a normal ERC20 transfer. The real “magic” happens off-chain—x402scan, the indexer, scans USDC transfers on the chain, applies rules (1 USDC = 5000 PING) to determine valid mints, logs them in an off-chain database, and distributes tokens via contracts.

Different form, same core. Both leverage the combination of on-chain data + off-chain interpretative authority.

Not So Popular Aspects

When inscriptions first emerged, the Bitcoin Core team was very resistant—felt it was just adding junk to the BTC mainnet. From this perspective, PING’s existence is quite awkward. But like BTC, x402 as an open standard probably won’t change this short-term.

Even more ironically, inscriptions at least involve embedding assets on the BTC chain; even if no one wants them, you can still redeem some BTC. But where does the money for Mint PING go? It all goes into the treasury wallet designated by x402scan. In other words, the team is crowdfunding while issuing tokens—both the x402 protocol and the team are freeloading.

Why This Could Be a Good Thing

Don’t rush to criticize. This kind of playstyle is actually a “signal”—it has immediate effects for spreading awareness of the x402 track and creating use cases. To some extent, it’s also a stress test for the x402 protocol, and can be seen as a pivotal event in x402 narrative, likely to spur a series of improvements and ecosystem innovations.

Next Steps: Multiple Factions Competing

Will it develop like inscriptions? Yes. PING’s essence is essentially the x402scan indexer, but it clearly has issues: assets are held by centralized entities, which contradicts x402’s original intention of building a payment channel for AI Agents; compatibility with other x402 applications is questionable; and there’s a lack of standardized minting, transferring, and burning protocols.

Referring to the evolution path from BRC20→ARC20→SRC20→Runes, many new “more orthodox” solutions are bound to emerge. Some will improve custodial methods, others will change transaction formats, and some may push for native protocol support. Even scenarios like x402scan going offline or treasury misappropriation can’t stop this wave—Pandora’s box has already been opened.

Final Words

The burst of x402 narrative is inevitable; PING just sounded the charge. How it evolves from here has countless possibilities. These are purely logical reflections and do not constitute any investment advice. But the lively scene ahead is worth watching.