Technical Progress of the BTC Ecosystem: Exploration of Programmability Solutions

The technological development of the BTC ecosystem is accelerating, especially in the area of programmability expansion solutions. This article will introduce several highly regarded BTC programmability solutions, including Fractal Bitcoin, AVM, OP_NET, BRC100, and programmable runes.

Fractal

Fractal is a scalable framework virtualized based on the Bitcoin Core client software, which improves network performance by recursively creating a tree structure. It is fully compatible with Bitcoin but activates the op_cat operator for more logic.

Fractal is developed by a wallet team and is expected to launch its mainnet in September 2024. Its tokenomics includes 50% mining output, 15% for the ecosystem, 5% for early investor presales, 20% for advisors and core contributors, and 10% for community partnerships and liquidity.

Architecture Design

Fractal encapsulates bitcoin core into a deployable blockchain software package (BCSP), allowing multiple BCSP instances to run on the Bitcoin mainnet through recursive anchoring. It can dynamically allocate interaction demands to deeper levels, avoiding congestion. Fractal has made some modifications to bitcoin core, such as shortening the block confirmation time and increasing the block size.

Fractal has activated the op_cat operator, providing an exploration space for BTC scaling solutions. It also builds cross-chain transfer interfaces for assets, supporting seamless transfer of assets between different layers. Bitcoin and other assets can enter the Fractal network through decentralized bridging.

Security Design

Fractal introduces joint mining, with one out of every three blocks generated through merged mining with BTC miners to prevent 51% attacks. The newly created instance chain will have protective measures during the launch phase. In the future, large miners can allocate their computing power to different BCSP instances, enhancing the robustness of the entire system.

AVM

AVM(Atomicals Virtual Machine) is the BTC smart contract implementation of the Atomicals Protocol. It creates a virtual machine that simulates BTC scripts, opens up multiple raw BTC opcodes, and allows developers to implement smart contracts through script combinations.

AVM achieves Turing completeness through a dual-stack PDA, operating in a sandbox that includes an indexer, instruction parser, and global state. Its instruction set contains the complete BTC opcode, allowing developers to program using the functionalities of BTC that are not enabled.

AVM is an architecture compatible with metadata protocols such as BRC20 and ARC20. It has released a test version, and the relevant code has been open-sourced.

OP_NET

OP_NET aims to introduce Ethereum-like smart contract functionality to the Bitcoin network. It provides a complete and compact development library, primarily written in AssemblyScript, simplifying the creation and operation of Bitcoin-related technologies.

Core Functions and Features

OP_NET retains the block consensus and data availability of BTC, performing complex computations on BTC blocks by executing the virtual machine (OP_VM). It supports multiple programming languages and utilizes Tapscript to enable advanced smart contract functionalities.

After the smart contract code is compressed, it is written into the BTC transaction, generating a UTXO address that is regarded as the contract address. Users need to transfer funds to this address to interact with the contract and pay an additional fee.

OP_NET provides a Proof of Authority system that allows BTC to be wrapped as WBTC. It is compatible with SegWit and Taproot, and the token design is not bound to UTXO, enhancing the system's security.

Ecological Project

The OP_NET ecosystem covers multiple areas including decentralized trading, lending, market making, liquidity provision, cross-chain bridges, and includes projects such as Motoswap, Stash, Ordinal Novus, Ichigai, and SatBot.

BRC100

BRC-100 is a decentralized computing protocol built on the theory of Ordinals, achieving complex DeFi functionalities through the addition of operations such as "burn" and "mint". Developers can expand more operators based on BRC-100.

Core Operations

The BRC-100 provides operations such as mint2/mint3 and burn2/burn3 for token generation, destruction, and state transition. These operations allow tokens to be securely converted between the UTXO model and the state machine model.

Expansion and Compatibility

BRC-100 can enhance computational power and state transitions through extension protocols. All extension protocols are compatible with each other and support cross-chain operations. BRC-101, BRC-102, and BRC-104 define decentralized governance, automated liquidity, and staking/re-staking pool protocols, respectively.

Ecological Project

The BRC-100 ecosystem includes inBRC( the first BRC-100 market and indexer ), 100Swap( which is an AMM DEX) based on the BRC-102 protocol, and 100Layer( liquidity protocol on Bitcoin L1 ), among other projects.

Programmability Runes ( Protorunes )

Programmable runes are an extension layer of runes that allow the creation of programmable assets with runes. They can exist in UTXO and support operations such as AMM.

Proto-Runes Protocol

Proto-Runes Protocol is the main project of Programmability runes, providing a framework for Programmability runes. It implements a DEX similar to Uniswap, supporting atomic swaps of rune assets and the creation of liquidity pools.

Core Mechanism

The key mechanisms of Proto-Runes include Protoburn( which converts runes into sub-protocol assets) and Protomessage( operation instructions within the sub-protocol). These mechanisms enable asset management, transfer, and complex operational logic.

Latest progress

QUORUM•GENESIS•PROTORUNE is the first successful Protorune to complete Protoburn. It aims to serve as a public forum for the Protorune standard and can be integrated into protocols to provide governance features. The development team is working on a WASM indexer to enable on-chain governance functionalities.