In the ever-changing competition of the cryptocurrency market, a notable reversal has just occurred within the x402 ecosystem.

PING, which was considered the "star token" of the x402 protocol last week, has seen its market capitalization advantage surpassed by the x402 protocol's payment infrastructure. According to the latest data, PayAI's market capitalization broke through $50 million this morning, increasing more than 10 times in four days. Meanwhile, PING, after a previous surge, has experienced a correction, with its current market capitalization at $34 million.

This is not just a competition between two projects, but a critical moment for the entire x402 ecosystem and even the decentralized payment infrastructure sector, transitioning from hype to practicality.

The High Points and Dilemma of PING

PING, as the first token issued on Base via the x402 protocol, reached its "high point" last week, surging more than 20 times in just two days, from October 23 to 24, with its market capitalization briefly exceeding $80 million.

This exponential growth attracted a large number of industry investors and brought unprecedented market attention to the x402 protocol, successfully opening the traffic entrance for this emerging sector.

However, the heat without value support is ultimately unsustainable. Fundamentally, PING is a pure Memecoin, with no actual application utility or real use cases. It has even been compared by some community users to "inscribed" assets—its price increase is mainly driven by market speculation, representing a typical traffic dividend frenzy rather than long-term growth based on value creation.

PayAI Breakthrough: The "Pragmatic" of x402 Infrastructure

In sharp contrast to PING's speculative nature, PayAI, as an x402 Facilitator, has broken through with clear infrastructure positioning and practical value, becoming the core asset for the shift in ecological value.

What is an x402 Facilitator? x402 Facilitators are service providers that process x402 payments on Solana and EVM networks, offering a unified endpoint access to validate and settle HTTP resource payments under the x402 protocol on-chain.

These Facilitators constitute the core infrastructure layer of the x402 payment ecosystem, responsible for validating and settling on-chain payments for HTTP resources using the x402 protocol:

· Support for different blockchain networks (e.g., Solana, Base, etc.).

· Facilitators bear network fees and handle validation/settlement.

· No API key required. Plug-and-play.

· Designed specifically for human and agent use cases, from pay-per-use APIs to AI agents, payment can be settled within one second after blockchain confirmation.

From the perspective of the x402 payment process logic, the client calls a protected resource and builds a payment payload; the resource server publishes payment requirements, validates/settles the payment, and fulfills the request; the Facilitator server validates the payment payload and executes settlement through standard endpoints; finally, the blockchain network executes and confirms the payment.

Eroding Coinbase's Share, Becoming the Second Largest Facilitator in the x402 Ecosystem

This role has made Facilitators the most valuable participants in the x402 ecosystem. Among these x402 Facilitators, PayAI is gradually eroding Coinbase's dominant position. According to x402scan data, PayAI has currently processed over 14% of x402 transactions, becoming the largest Facilitator other than Coinbase. In contrast, Coinbase's market share has declined from its early absolute dominance to about 77%.

Chart Source: x402scan

From the perspective of ecosystem participants, the number of PayAI's sellers has reached more than 82% of Coinbase's, with the gap continuously narrowing.

In the x402 ecosystem, sellers are the service endpoints that provide API or content monetization. The x402 protocol offers them a "frictionless microtransaction monetization" solution—enabling direct revenue generation from customers through programmable payments without mandatory subscriptions or advertising campaigns.

The size of the seller base directly determines the market potential of the x402 ecosystem: more high-quality sellers mean more choices for buyers, attracting more traffic into the ecosystem, forming a positive cycle of "increasing sellers → influx of buyers → ecosystem prosperity." PayAI's rapid penetration on the seller side is laying a solid foundation for its ecological status.

PayAI Token Economics and Utility

In terms of PayAI token economics, the total supply is 1 billion tokens, with all tokens in circulation at launch.

The PayAI team will purchase 20% of the token supply at the time of token issuance and transfer it to the project treasury. These funds will be used for operations, marketing, and future token releases, such as community rewards and partnerships. Specifically, half of the treasury tokens will provide liquidity to generate fees, while the other half will be linearly vested over one year.

What are the utilities of PAYAI tokens? According to the official documentation, the expected uses of PAYAI include:

· Reduce platform fees when executing service contracts between AI agents.

· Increase visibility of buyer or seller agent lists.

· Participate in future platform governance (e.g., voting on feature proposals, agent ratings).

· Pay arbitration fees in dispute resolution (to be launched in the future).

Deep Thinking

The shifting momentum between PING and PayAI actually reflects an important issue: the x402 ecosystem is moving from concept to reality, transitioning from hype to practicality.

The first issued token, PING, received a "dividend premium," which is a common market psychology. However, as the market cools down, investors begin to think: what exactly am I investing in? If PING is just a minting game similar to inscriptions, then its value base is very weak.

In contrast, PayAI, as an x402 Facilitator with payment infrastructure, anchors two core values: "transaction traffic" and "ecosystem necessities." It has proven the fundamental value of the project through actual market share and application scenarios, naturally gaining continuous capital recognition.

In this process, we have seen further maturity in the x402 field—market participants are now deciding the status of projects based on actual transaction traffic and fundamental value, rather than blind hype. This is undoubtedly a positive signal for the entire x402 ecosystem and open payment ecosystem.

Original Title: "PayAI Surpasses PING! The Value Anchor in the x402 Ecosystem Is Changing"

Original Author: KarenZ, Foresight News