$PING hundredfold Return ignites the Marketplace, will the x402 protocol replicate the inscription craze?

Author: Cookie

Yesterday, a special Meme Gem was born on Base — it’s called $PING. Based on the cost of minting and the current coin price, a successful mint yields about 18 times the return. (The current market cap is $18 million, with minting returns approaching 100 times.)

The special thing about $PING is that its minting process reminds people of inscriptions from two years ago. Minting one $PING costs about $1, and if successful, you can receive 5,000 $PING. The minting page for $PING also looks similar to those inscriptions — it lacks fancy front-end design, giving it a rather hardcore vibe.

This is the first token issued through the x402 protocol. So, what is the x402 protocol? Why is the minting process of $PING so special? And what is the current ecosystem situation?

What is the x402 Protocol?

x402 is an open payment protocol developed by Coinbase that enables AI agents to autonomously complete transactions.

The protocol leverages the long-standing HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code, which has been in a “reserved” state for a long time, to require payment before completing an API request or loading a webpage. If an API request lacks payment information, x402 returns an HTTP 402 status code, prompting the client to pay and retry the request.

The following diagram illustrates how the x402 protocol works:

![]###https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-9790e926b0c35e7ecd600a689072fd6f.webp(

A user makes a request to Claude, such as “Use my Coinbase wallet to buy a pair of jeans on Amazon.” The AI receives the request, initiates a purchase request to Amazon, which then constructs a preliminary transaction including the wallet address, blockchain network, coin type, and amount. The AI receives this and sends the transaction to the x402 verifier, which checks whether the wallet on the specified chain has sufficient assets, whether the item is tradable, and whether the user has confirmed authorization. Once all checks pass, the verifier sends the amount and proof of payment to the merchant’s address. The transaction is then complete.

Overall, the HTTP 402 status code functions as a “message passing” tool within the protocol to indicate whether a transaction was successful. Coinbase has built on this status code by adding blockchain-based payment capabilities, forming the x402 protocol.

It may sound simple, but from the process above, two exciting points stand out. First, the on-chain assets used for actual payments are further simplified — users no longer need to convert to fiat currency before spending; they can directly use USDT, USDC, or other on-chain assets. However, this requires widespread adoption by merchants supporting this method.

Any Web API or content provider (whether crypto or Web2) that wants to offer low-cost, frictionless micro or usage-based payments can integrate x402.

The second point involves AI Agents. As payers or payees, AI Agents are highly compatible with blockchain payments because they don’t have traditional bank or payment app accounts like humans do, since they lack KYC. As AI Agents become smarter, new and innovative on-chain experiences and consumption models are also worth looking forward to.

The workflow also explains why the minting process of ) resembles inscriptions — it requires verification from the x402 verifier. During minting, numerous minting requests not only overload the minting interface repeatedly but also serve as a real stress test for the x402 protocol.

![]$PING https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-6a9369bd8d2c61e2d7fdaf409166f6a9.webp(

Data from the past 30 days shows that )’s interface has received over 150,000 x402 transactions totaling about $140,000, far surpassing the second-ranked Questflow.

This is the first time in nearly half a year since the launch of the x402 protocol that it has been this lively and well-known. Regardless of the blockchain or protocol, new asset issuance remains a perennial hot topic in the crypto world.

x402 Ecosystem Overview

So, besides $PING, what other projects are worth paying attention to within the x402 protocol?

The Ecosystem page on the official x402 website provides a current project summary. Clicking into each project reveals that the protocol is still in a relatively early development stage. Many projects link directly to technical documentation or GitHub repositories.

![]$PING https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-cc1663eba574ebee42332169d930d2f7.webp###

Here, we compile some projects that already have tokens or are about to launch tokens.

(# Questflow

![])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-1de6d4f7a0ebc4f40f81eb22042d9481.webp###

A multi-AI Agent task scheduling layer that enables multiple AI Agents to coordinate and execute tasks autonomously. In July, it announced a $6.5 million seed round led by cyber•Fund, with participation from Delphi Labs, Systemic Ventures, Eden Block, HashKey Capital, Animoca Brands, Tezos, and others. It also received grants from Coinbase Developer Platform, Aptos, and Virtuals.

Currently, there is no official token, but in December last year, it launched $SANTA in partnership with Virtuals — a cluster of autonomous Agents built using Questflow’s QDP (Questflow Developer Platform) and MAOP (Multi-Agent Orchestration Protocol).

(’s current market cap is approximately $4.5 million.

)# AurraCloud

![]$SANTA https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-ad9e061059c963384180cf4dd45bb736.webp###

An infrastructure for AI Agents targeting native crypto applications. It can immediately host AI Agents using OpenAI-compatible APIs or MCP servers and enable AI monetization via the on-chain x402 protocol on Base.

Additionally, this month, the project also launched x402 verification services.

The token ( was issued via Virtuals and currently has a market cap of about $1.6 million.

)# Meridian

![]$AURA https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-3feb86f41fa189f51304560461bfa320.webp###

Incubated by uOS, providing multi-chain settlement and custody services for the x402 protocol.

The token ( has a market cap of roughly $1.5 million.

)# PayAI

![]$MRDN https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-d5ab71f22bfa8f702fb637e35e2493cb.webp###

Supports multi-chain x402 payment services, including Solana, and also offers x402 verification services.

The token (’s current market cap is about $5 million.

)# Daydreams

![]$PAYAI https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-2de899bcdb0a64ec261401ab20b885ab.webp###

Supports the LLN inference process for applications and AI Agents using x402. It is also building Lucid — a platform where anyone can deploy Daydreams Agents to solve problems. Users sign transactions with x402 to pay in USDC, and Agents can pay each other for access.

The token ( has a market cap of approximately $6.7 million.

)# Gloria AI

![]$dreams https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-d9f50eb8c527eefab92fa6ab0b2359bb.webp###

A real-time news platform designed for traders, creators, AI Agents, and automation systems, enabling paid access via x402.

The token ( currently has a market cap of around $1.65 million.

)# Kite AI

![]$GLORIA https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-287e93b3107396bdaf4b5dd5f7359cf7.webp$GLORIA

Kite AI is building the “Intelligent Agent Internet ###Agentic Internet(” — a foundational trading layer for autonomous intelligent agents, providing unified identity, payment, and governance infrastructure. The project is closely related to x402, supporting it as early as July, and is the only project in the x402 ecosystem that can be categorized as a “blockchain” project.

On September 2, according to Forbes, Kite AI announced a $33 million funding round, with $18 million in Series A led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst. Other investors include 8VC, Samsung Next, SBI US Gateway Fund, Vertex Ventures, Hashed, HashKey Capital, Dispersion Capital, Alumni Ventures, Avalanche Foundation, GSR Markets, LayerZero, Animoca Brands, Essence VC, and Alchemy.

Kite AI has not issued tokens yet, but recently launched the Kite Foundation X account, which is expected to issue tokens soon. Currently, the tradable asset is the official FLY THE KITE NFT, with a floor price of 0.375 ETH.

) Conclusion

In September this year, Coinbase and Cloudflare announced the joint establishment of the x402 Foundation to promote the protocol’s development. While there are some similar competitors, such as bitGPT’s h402 and Radius’s EVMAuth, there’s no doubt that x402 has the strongest backing and the highest level of attention.

If (’s market cap surges significantly in the future, the x402 protocol will attract even more market attention. This is beneficial not only for meme coins but also for infrastructure projects.