Written on the eve of the explosive popularity of x402 narrative, let's first cover some basic knowledge.

Author: Haotian; Source: X, @tmel0211

Writing on the eve of x402 narrative’s explosive popularity, let’s first clarify some basic understandings:

1) Whether it’s Ping or the upcoming Pong, they are just signals before the x402 boom, accelerating the market’s recognition of the great x402 narrative. Although x402 primarily offers a practical communication protocol (no need for FOMO), the market always enjoys the game of gilding the lily;

2) x402 is not an isolated technological innovation. The connection capabilities provided by MCP, the multi-model collaboration enabled by A2A, combined with x402’s payment capabilities, form a complete closed loop. The rise of x402 can revitalize the entire AI Agent track, including niche DeAI platforms and valuable AI Agent applications;

3) x402 is a crypto payment component jointly developed by Google, Coinbase, Ethereum Foundation, and others, aiming to enable AI Agents to seamlessly handle stablecoins, ETH, and other crypto assets. Additionally, it has integrated with 60 payment partners and crypto business entities. Undoubtedly, x402 will drive the integration of Web2 and Web3, leading to a wave of related startup projects—some issuing tokens, some not, a dazzling array;

4) The current market is in a narrative vacuum, desperately craving new stories. The continued decline of MEME hype, the ineffectiveness of Chinese Ticker hype, the passive RWA narrative, the lack of innovation in DeFi, all point to a broader imaginative space. The prediction markets led by Polymarket are a given, and x402 just happens to be timely. Not to mention, the Base ecosystem will also do its best to promote it;

5) Before every major narrative launch, the market inevitably sees a batch of speculative projects riding the hype. They might just add a line in their whitepaper about compatibility with x402 to jump on the narrative fast lane, or directly fork projects that are building infrastructure related to x402 and issue tokens, etc. This mirrors the previous AI Agent boom. But thanks to lessons learned, pseudo-x402 concept projects will also serve as fuel, and truly valuable projects will gradually emerge;

6) There’s no need to worry excessively. The true value of the x402 protocol may take 1-2 years to fully release, but fortunately, some promising projects are already on the way. For example, L1 @GoKiteAI designed specifically for Agent payments, payment identity verification protocol @trySkyfire, embedded payment channels @fluxA_offical, and more valuable projects are expected to emerge. Let’s wait patiently for the bloom!