Written by: TechFlow, Deep Tide
The market is currently undergoing another deep correction, and everyone is waiting for a rebound after the overreaction.
But when the market really rebounds, which sectors do you think will benefit first?
The biggest possibility comes from those hot narratives that led the market before the crash but were interrupted. For example, look at the recent performance of privacy coins; and apart from the old privacy coins being hyped again, another new narrative that can drive related assets is naturally x402.
Previously, we also wrote that most of the current x402 opportunities are on the Base chain; but looking back at this year's market pulse, BNB Chain has indeed created wealth effects in tracks like Perp DEX and meme coins (albeit controversially), but x402 is the only one missing.
(Related reading: x402 is booming on BASE, where are the asset opportunities on BSC and Solana? )
So let's sort out the logic again:
If the market warms up in the short term, will BNB Chain + x402, which comes with its own topical traffic, usher in an explosion? If you agree with this logic, then naturally you need to prepare in advance when no one is paying attention.
And according to the crypto ecosystem inertia of "applications come and go, but infrastructure is permanent", the "shovel seller" projects in a narrative often have bigger opportunities.
Who is the most noteworthy shovel seller on BNB Chain? The b402 protocol is definitely one of the answers.
Maybe you don't know what b402 is yet, or can't get the opportunity in it. However, a video recently released by b402's official Twitter may inspire your imagination about what this project is doing:
On BNBChain, based on the x402 protocol, using the USD1 stablecoin from the Trump family project WLFI, transferring to an AI Agent, the whole process is smooth and seamless.
Don't forget, nearly 80% of USD1's supply is on BNB Chain.
So in this big x402 narrative, besides base and USDC, there may be another solution you overlooked:
When the b402 protocol, BNB Chain, Binance's possible support for projects in various tracks to cope with competition, and USD1 are somehow connected, the technical narrative can ferment through topics, capital, and controversy, and the energy it can stir up may be even greater.
Therefore, in this issue, let's take a look at the b402 protocol, see if it stands up, and what makes it stand out compared to other x402 protocols.
x402 Can't Be Directly Replicated, b402 Fills the Gap
I believe most people's instinctive first reaction when hearing the name b402 is:
Why not just move x402 to BNB Chain, why bother with b402, isn't this reinventing the wheel?
b402's official Twitter once gave a short but precise explanation of this issue:
“x402 supports payments between AI Agents using USDC, while b402 allows them to pay each other using any BEP-20 standard token.”
In other words, you can't just easily copy the x402 setup from the base chain to BNB Chain.
To understand why it can't be copied, we need to first clarify what the core of x402 is.
It's not the so-called HTTP 402 status code, nor a payment protocol, but enabling AI Agents to complete payments without managing Gas.
Imagine if every AI Agent had to hold both USDT (for payments) and BNB (for Gas), how troublesome it would be. It would need to monitor BNB balance, recharge when BNB is insufficient, and handle Gas price fluctuations. This is annoying for human users and a nightmare for programs.
x402's solution on Base is clever: it leverages a special feature of USDC. The USDC issued by Coinbase implements a standard called EIP-3009, allowing users to simply sign an authorization message:
“I agree to transfer X USDC to a certain address,” and then anyone can take this signature to the chain to execute the transfer, with the Gas fee paid by the executor.
This is why x402 can achieve low gas payments. The AI Agent only needs to sign, the x402 Facilitator takes the signature to execute, and the Agent never needs to touch ETH.
But on BNB Chain, this route doesn't work.
USDT, BUSD, and the new USD1 on BSC do not support EIP-3009. They are standard ERC-20 tokens, only recognizing on-chain transactions, not off-chain signatures. If you take a signature to the USDT contract, it simply ignores you.
So, b402's innovation is that since token contracts on BNB Chain do not support signature authorization, it creates its own intermediate layer.
b402 calls this intermediate layer the Relayer, which is actually a deployed Relayer contract. You can think of its role as a "translator":
It receives the user's signature authorization, verifies its authenticity, and then calls USDT's transfer function on behalf of the user.
From USDT's perspective, it's the Relayer executing the transfer; from the user's perspective, they just signed a message. The whole process is as follows:
-
The user signs a message, including "transfer X USDT from my address to the merchant, valid until a certain time".
-
b402's Facilitator receives the signature and submits it to the Relayer contract.
-
The Relayer verifies the authenticity of the signature, checks if the token is whitelisted, and confirms the validity window.
-
If all is OK, it calls USDT's transferFrom to complete the transfer.
The result? AI Agents still only need to sign, without holding BNB. Although the technical path is completely different, the user experience is exactly the same as x402.
Even better, since the Relayer is b402's own contract, it can support any BEP-20 token.
As long as it's whitelisted, USDT can be used, USD1 can be used, and future new stablecoins can also be used. This flexibility is something the original x402 can't achieve.
So, to answer the question at the beginning of this chapter:
b402 is not reinventing the wheel, but finding a new way for AI Agents to pay with on-chain tokens under BSC's technical constraints.
Building a New Wheel, Opening a New Market
Solving the technical problem is only the first step. If BSC wants a share in the AI Agent economy, a protocol alone is not enough; it also needs truly usable infrastructure.
Just look at the x402 Facilitator leaderboard to see how awkward the current situation is. Coinbase ranks first, handling 330,000 transactions. Next are Daydreams, AurraCloud, PayAI... all on Base and Solana. BSC? Not a single one.
What is a Facilitator?
It's the core infrastructure of the x402 ecosystem, equivalent to a payment gateway. When an AI Agent needs to pay to call an API, the Facilitator verifies the payment request, checks the balance, executes the on-chain transaction, and returns the result. Without a Facilitator, the x402 protocol is just a piece of paper.
In other words, whoever controls the Facilitator controls the payment gateway for AI Agents.
b402's Facilitator is currently BSC's answer. It doesn't just copy x402's functions, but optimizes for BSC's characteristics. The biggest difference is multi-currency support—not just USDT, but any BEP-20 token can be used.
This means new stablecoins like USD1 can be integrated directly, without waiting for extra development.
For developers, integrating b402 Facilitator is extremely simple. Just add a line in the server configuration: “FACILITATOR_URL=https://facilitator.b402.ai”, and your API can start charging AI Agents. No need to understand blockchain, no need to manage private keys, b402 handles all the technical details.
But b402's ambition doesn't stop there. If Facilitator is the infrastructure, then b402scan is the upper layer.
If you only look at the name "scan", you might mistake it for a blockchain explorer, but in reality, it's an “AI service marketplace”.
Marketplace means service providers can publish APIs, set prices, and showcase what their AI can do; other AI Agents can search for needed services, view transaction history, and directly call these providers' functions.
Currently, this marketplace is not fully open, but you can keep an eye on the project's progress to see what interesting AI services emerge in the future.
Overall, b402's role as a shovel seller is very clear: Facilitator is more like a technical gateway, while b402scan is more like the business model of Shopify or Amazon.
This forms a complete closed loop:
-
Developers use b402 Facilitator to enable their API services to charge fees;
-
Developers use b402scan to let their APIs be discovered by others;
-
AI Agents complete the entire process of discovery, invocation, and payment within the same system. Every transaction strengthens BSC's position as the payment chain for AI Agents.
And the official technical diagram of b402 tells an even bigger story:
The bottom layer is the protocol and Relayer contract, solving technical problems; the middle layer is Facilitator and b402scan, providing service capabilities; the top layer is various SDKs, lowering the access threshold. This full-stack layout, in my opinion, is filling in every missing piece for BSC in the AI Agent economy.
USD1 is a particularly noteworthy variable. When b402 showcased using USD1 to pay for AI services on October 28th on its official Twitter, it may have inadvertently hit a major hot spot.
The Trump family's WLFI chose BSC as the main issuance chain for USD1, with 80% of the supply here.
What does a new stablecoin need most? Highly narrative and profitable use cases. And high-frequency micro-payments by AI Agents may be one of the answers.
If the AI Agent economy is a war, then Base, relying on Coinbase's resources, has already occupied the high ground, and Solana is also advancing rapidly with hackathons.
BSC, through b402, is building its own base. The characteristic of this base is not being the earliest or largest, but the most open: any token can be used, any service can be listed, any Agent can join.
Current Progress and Token Expectations
According to bscscan data, b402 has already quietly started running.
As of November 7th, the latest b402 relayer contract has generated about 45,000 transactions; together with the old relayer contract (soon to be deprecated for technical reasons), b402 has now generated nearly 86,000 transactions.
According to third-party Dune data, although the transaction volume is still far from Coinbase, considering that b402 has only been online for less than a month, this starting speed is not slow.
Even more interesting is the transaction distribution: b402's transaction volume began to grow steadily after October 26th, which is exactly when they released the USD1 payment demo.
The token distribution tells the story even better. In the entire x402 ecosystem, 98.7% of the transaction volume uses USDC, with the remaining 1.3% spread across USD1, USDT, ETH, and more than a dozen other tokens.
This extreme concentration actually reflects a problem: the current x402 ecosystem is heavily dependent on Coinbase and USDC. The multi-currency design of b402 happens to break this monopoly.
Of course, USD1's current transaction volume is only $200,000, but this precisely shows that the opportunity is still early.
If the Trump narrative is hyped again next year, USD1 usage may explode. By then, the only mature AI payment protocol on BSC will be b402.
This also relates to expectations for the b402 token. However, the b402 team has not yet announced a specific tokenomics plan; but from the technical architecture, several directions can be inferred.
First is protocol fees: each transaction may charge a 0.1-0.3% fee, which can be used for buybacks or dividends. Second is governance rights, deciding on whitelisted tokens, fee adjustments, protocol upgrades, and other important matters. Third is a staking mechanism: operating a Facilitator may require staking a certain amount of tokens as collateral.
If designed this way, the advantage is that the token value is directly linked to protocol usage. The more transactions, the higher the protocol income, the greater the token value, and it fits the narrative of real revenue.
Of course, the above is just speculation. For the actual tokenomics, interested players can further follow the progress released on the project's official Twitter.
Overall, paying attention to b402 is actually betting on whether BSC can gain a foothold in the AI Agent economy. Conservatively, this is an infrastructure project for the BSC ecosystem, growing slowly with the ecosystem. Aggressively, perhaps more wealth-effect projects can be born here under the AI economy narrative.
Conclusion
At this point, the story of b402 is basically clear. But finally, I want to talk about the bigger picture behind this project.
The explosion of x402 is not accidental. It solves a real problem: enabling AI Agents to pay autonomously. This demand will grow exponentially as AI Agents become more popular; as for how much b402 can capture, we don't have a clear answer.
But looking back at the history of crypto project development, the current situation of b402 and x402 reminds me of the relationship between Uniswap and 0x Protocol back in the day.
At that time, 0x Protocol was technically advanced, with a complete order book; but it was too ahead of its time and disconnected from on-chain demand. Uniswap, on the other hand, took a half-step back technically, had no order book, only simple swaps, but happened to meet the explosive demand of DeFi.
Today, Uniswap has become DeFi's infrastructure.
x402 using USDC for micropayments is indeed elegant, but the use cases are still scattered and far from truly shining. b402's implementation was originally a forced compromise because BSC couldn't copy x402's gasless approach, but this "compromise" may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Why? Because b402 allows any BEP-20 token to do gasless transactions, which opens up at least three unexpected opportunities:
First, the threshold for ordinary users and AI Agents disappears completely. Imagine a new user or Agent can receive any token with an empty wallet, then transfer directly or trade on PancakeSwap, without ever needing to top up BNB for Gas.
Second, the on-chain Agent economy may truly explode. When all tokens can be traded gaslessly, Agent trading strategies and financial strategies become much more flexible. A DeFi Agent can freely switch between various tokens without worrying about Gas management. This convenience may lead to exponential growth in Agent trading volume.
Third, on-chain behavior may become more anonymous. When a large number of transactions are completed through the Relayer, and accounts no longer need to top up Gas, external observers cannot trace wallet relationships through Gas sources.
This brings us back to the opening question: if the market rebounds, what will you buy?
Now it seems, b402 is not just a replacement for x402 on BSC, but could be the starting point for a much bigger opportunity. What it solves is not just the AI Agent payment problem, but the entire BSC ecosystem's gasless transaction problem. This market is much bigger than just AI Agents.
If you believe the AI Agent narrative can run through the crypto market for years, if you think gasless transactions are the key to Web3 adoption, if you believe on-chain privacy will be the next hot spot, then b402 is worth watching.
Not because it will definitely succeed, but because it may inadvertently open a much bigger door. Just like Uniswap back then, the simplest solution often contains the greatest opportunity.
