The Bitcoin ecosystem is thriving, how can established projects seize new opportunities?

This year's mainstream narrative in the cryptocurrency world is shaped by the rise of Bitcoin and the prosperity of the inscription ecosystem. The increase in Bitcoin's price benefits from multiple factors, including the prosperity of the on-chain ecosystem, expectations for spot ETFs, the halving cycle, and expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. At the same time, the large-scale entry of institutional investors has also provided strong momentum.

The inscription ecosystem, especially represented by Ordinals, has injected new vitality into the Bitcoin ecosystem through non-fungible tokens (NFT) and fungible tokens (FT), and its influence has spread to other public chains. Almost all leading public chains have developed corresponding inscription gameplay, and many old projects have also revitalized themselves through this opportunity.

Bounce: Bitcoin ecosystem project auction and Layer 2 plan

Bounce Finance, as a multi-chain Auction-as-a-Service ( protocol, provides one-stop token issuance services for projects. Recently, the platform has launched multiple auction activities for Bitcoin ecosystem projects. These projects had a low initial valuation, and subsequent auctions could utilize the earlier project tokens as "shovels," thus performing well. Bounce's native token AUCTION has also benefited and risen in value.

Taking the recent GoDID auction as an example, GoDID is a decentralized identity )DID( market aggregator. Its token BDID's distribution plan includes: 20% to users who purchase lottery tickets for AUCTION, 40% to AUCTION stakers, 20% to stakers of the stablecoin DAII issued by the early project BitStable, and 5% to users participating in airdrop mining using MUBI, BSSB, AUCTION, WBTC.

In addition, Bounce announced the BounceBit program in December, which is a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution based on Binance Bitcoin BTCB and AUCTION, expected to launch in 2024.

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Uniswap Expands to Rootstock

As a leading decentralized exchange, Uniswap has launched multiple versions and expanded to multiple public chains. Recently, GFX Labs deployed Uniswap V3 to the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock through Oku, marking Uniswap's expansion into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Rootstock)RSK( is a Bitcoin sidechain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine)EVM(, secured through merged mining, and has SBTC which is 1:1 pegged to Bitcoin. RSK employs a joint guarantor model to manage cross-chain asset transfers, providing additional security guarantees.

As of December 19, the liquidity on Oku reached $535,000.

Magic Eden Enters the Bitcoin NFT Market

As one of the most popular NFT markets in the Solana ecosystem, Magic Eden is known for its low transaction fees, fast transactions, and a rich variety of NFT collections. In March of this year, with the rise of Ordinals NFTs, Magic Eden announced its expansion into the Bitcoin ecosystem, marking an important step in its multi-chain strategy.

Currently, the trading volume of Bitcoin ecosystem NFTs such as bitmap and Bitcoin Frogs has ranked among the top on Magic Eden.

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Nostr: The Combination of Decentralized Social Networking and Micro Payments

Nostr is a decentralized social protocol supported by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. In September of this year, Nostr underwent the NIP-57 upgrade, which added a small payment feature called "Zaps," allowing users to quickly and cheaply give tips or make payments through the Nostr client.

Zaps are primarily realized through the Lightning Network. After a user initiates a Zap request, if the recipient's Lightning wallet supports it, the LNURL server will confirm the recipient's public key and create a payment request. After the user completes the payment, the amount is directly transferred to the recipient's Lightning wallet.

Currently, the number of payments made with Zap has exceeded 50,000.

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ALEX:B20 Exchange and Bitcoin Oracle

ALEX was originally a DeFi platform on Stacks, offering various functions such as DEX, Launchpad, and cross-chain bridges. With the rise of inscriptions, ALEX developed the B20 decentralized exchange specifically for BRC20 token trading and provided new users with STX tokens to pay for gas fees.

In addition, ALEX plans to launch the first Bitcoin oracle for BRC20 tokens. This work is carried out in collaboration with the creators of BRC20 and several well-known off-chain indexers, aiming to lead the decentralized consensus of BRC20 indexing. The oracle's goal is to verify each BRC20 event and update the global balance in on-chain contracts.

Development of Inscriptions on Various Public Chains

The concept of inscriptions has spread from Bitcoin to other public chains, with over 30 public chains having released or preparing to release inscriptions. However, the significance of issuing inscriptions on smart contract chains has sparked discussion.

Taking Ethscriptions on Ethereum as an example, its transfer fees may be lower than those of ordinary smart contract transfers because it reduces transaction costs by using calldata. However, this approach may introduce new security risks and is not as flexible in functionality as traditional smart contracts.

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Summary

Against the backdrop of the thriving Bitcoin ecosystem, several established projects have showcased innovative vitality: Bounce has launched a unique auction model and plans to develop Layer 2; Nostr combines decentralized social networking with micro-payments; ALEX is developing a BRC20 trading market and planning a Bitcoin oracle; Uniswap and Magic Eden have expanded their businesses into the Bitcoin ecosystem. Although the concept of inscriptions has been widely applied across major public chains, its actual value on smart contract chains still requires further exploration.