Why does PING resemble Bitcoin inscriptions of 2023? The deep logic behind the next "charge" of the x402 protocol

Key Points

Recently, the PING token under the x402 protocol has gained popularity, with many comparing it to the 2023 Bitcoin inscription craze. Honestly, this comparison isn’t far off — not only on the surface but also in the underlying operational logic, which is essentially the same pattern. Moreover, it will inevitably evolve toward the inscription market.

Why does it look so similar? The key lies in “On-chain Data + Off-chain Interpretation Rights”

First, let’s look at how inscriptions work. Users send transactions to the BTC mainnet, owning specific UTXOs. But here’s the clever part — the BTC mainnet itself cannot determine whether a transaction is a “valid inscription.” This is where the Ordinals protocol comes in, acting as a third-party judge. It scans all on-chain transactions and, using rules like “First is First,” defines what truly counts as an inscription.

What about the logic of PING? Users send USDC to a specific address on the Base chain — this address is dynamically generated by x402scan. From the perspective of the Base chain and the x402 protocol, this is just a normal ERC20 transfer, nothing special.

But x402scan, the indexer, is different. It scans all USDC transfers to that specific address off-chain, judging which transactions are “valid mints” based on its own rules (e.g., 1 USDC = 5000 PING), then records these in a database and distributes tokens via smart contracts.

See the pattern? Same formula, just different ingredients.

But here’s the interesting part

When inscriptions first appeared, the Bitcoin Core team opposed them, with a simple reason — these would just fill the BTC mainnet with junk transactions, offering little real value. By that logic, PING is similar.

However, there’s a key difference. Assets used to inscribe still remain on the BTC mainnet; inscriptions aren’t traded actively, so releasing them can be exchanged for BTC. But where does the money for minting PING go? It all goes into a treasury wallet designated by x402scan. In other words, the team is crowdfunding while issuing tokens, and both sides of the x402 protocol have been freeloaded.

It sounds suspicious, but from another angle — this is actually a “call to arms.” For promoting the x402 track, the effect is immediate. It effectively creates use cases for the x402 protocol and simultaneously conducts stress tests. This event is definitely a “singularity” in the x402 narrative, likely to spawn a wave of improvements and ecosystem prosperity.

How will it evolve next? It will probably split like inscriptions

The value of PING mainly comes from the x402scan indexer, but the problem is obvious — assets are held by centralized entities, which fundamentally contradicts the original purpose of the x402 protocol to open payment channels for AI Agents. Moreover, compatibility, minting, transferring, and burning operations lack unified standards.

Following the evolution from BRC20 → ARC20 → SRC20 → Runes, the x402 ecosystem will likely see a bunch of new “inscriptions” claiming to be more “orthodox.” Some will improve custody methods, others will change minting transaction formats, and some will seek native protocol support — each with different approaches.

To be exaggerated, even if x402scan someday runs away or the treasury embezzles funds, this wave won’t stop. The Pandora’s box has already been opened; it can’t be closed again.

Final words

The explosive growth of the x402 narrative is inevitable. PING has just sounded the charge; how the market evolves afterward is full of possibilities. The above is just a logical framework, not investment advice. But in any case, these upcoming developments are definitely worth paying attention to.