Sleep Deez, a well-respected producer who has worked with BTS, has confirmed via his inside source at the Grammys that BTS were, in fact, gonna be the guinea pigs/test dumbies/poster child for the "Asian Pop Performance" category.
They wanted to legitimize it as a "win-win" for both BTS and the segregation of Asian artists by the Academy. What they did NOT expect was that BTS would have self-respect/self-worth and thought they would be DESPERATE for western/Grammys validation. That is why you see them coke ranting on every social media platform.