BRC-20 is very popular these days, and some players are starting to rush to mine on the Bitcoin chain.
Some time ago, players re-minted the NFT on the Ethereum chain onto the Bitcoin chain, causing FOMO for a while.
For example, btcpunk, a cypherpunk on the Bitcoin chain, currently has a floor price of 0.74 ETH, with a cumulative transaction volume of more than 7,800 ETH. Its popularity has obviously declined recently.
The focus during this period is BRC-20, the TOKEN on the Bitcoin chain.
The first BRC-20 token contract deployed was "ordi", which was launched on March 9, 2023; the current popular BRC20s include pepe, punk, bayc, domo, etc., which are all meme tokens with no actual value.
What is BRC-20?
BRC-20 is a token on the Bitcoin chain. It is easier to understand by comparing it with Ethereum ERC-20. It uses the Ordinal JSON protocol to mint and transfer tokens.
The BRC-20 token standard was created by Twitter user domodata and is currently just an experimental interchangeable token standard. The token itself has little value.
However, as BRC20 becomes popular, more and more BRC 20 tokens have appeared on the chain, such as ORDI, MEME, PEPE, etc.
According to UniSat data, more than 1,400 tokens have been successfully deployed and more than 6,000 BRC20s are being minted.
What is the principle of BRC-20?
The total number of bitcoins is 21 million, and 1 bitcoin can be divided into 100 million satoshis (satoshi, the smallest unit of bitcoin), totaling 210 trillion satoshis.
Here we need to understand the inscription first. It is created by writing the content into satoshi using the Ordinals protocol. The inscription does not require the use of a separate token, sidechain, or change to Bitcoin;
What the Ordinals protocol does is to write information to each satoshi, such as text, pictures, audio and video. Due to the size limit of Bitcoin blocks, the main information engraved inscribe (that is, mint) is text and pictures, that is, in the form of NFT and token.
Since the inscription is created directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, it cannot be tampered with and there is no project owner. As long as Bitcoin does not disappear, the inscription will not disappear;
One of the important principles of the Ordinals protocol is “first come, first served”. Whoever engraves it first owns it. Anyone can deploy a contract on the Bitcoin chain through the protocol. If it goes out of the circle, it may increase by a hundred times. If it does not go out of the circle, it will just be an experiment.
So how do you own a BRC-20 token?
You need Bitcoin, wallet, and operating platform, which can be obtained through deployment, minting, and purchase.
For example, on the operating platform unisat.io, players can directly install the platform wallet UniSat Wallet in the browser, create the wallet Taproot, and record the mnemonic phrase.
After the wallet is created, transfer BTC to the UniSat Wallet wallet through the CEX platform and perform related operations.
inscribe
Click Iinscribe in unisat to start minting. You can mint text, domain names, pictures, etc. You can also mint BRC-20 tokens.
Mint a Bitcoin domain name with a .sats suffix, or an image NFT.
Deploy
Deployment can be understood as the release of a certain token. Generally, the maximum supply is 21 million. Tick is the name of the token, and Limit Per Mint is the maximum number of mints each time.
A token is initially issued through the protocol, with a maximum quantity and name set, allowing others to continue minting.
Mint
The casting has been deployed in the brc20 blockchain. Choose to cast those that are not 100% completed. Set the quantity during casting and pay the gas to start casting.
Buy
Some popular BRC20s have already been minted and can only be purchased through the market.
However, the unisat market is still in beta and is only open to users who have minted 20 times on the platform and obtained 20 points.
New users can only try to mint first, or purchase it over the counter, or check whether it is online on the CEX platform.
What are the risks of BRC-20?
Currently, brc20 has a certain degree of popularity, but no one knows how long it will last.
Optimists believe that the Ordinals protocol makes Bitcoin NFT a truly on-chain asset and will rewrite the future NFT market.
Those who are bearish believe that BRC20 is just a temporary fad, has no specific applications, is just a meme, and will soon become quiet after the excitement.
Currently, brc20 is extremely popular, and the gas fee for transactions remains high. In addition, due to the "first is first" principle of the Ordinals protocol, sometimes even if the gas is paid, the minting cannot be successful.
In addition, many brc20s have already increased by hundreds of times. If the excitement fades, you will just be a bag holder and there is a risk of being trapped.
But every time there is a new experiment on the chain, no one knows the final result. Any attempt has only two possibilities: either success or failure.
As an ordinary player, you can invest in exploration within your ability to increase your wallet assets; you can also gain experience even if you return to zero.
The above is just my personal opinion, not investment advice. I am Chu Xiaolian, and I am paying attention to the Metaverse and web3.
