Recently, the Bitcoin ecosystem has gradually become Fomo, bringing popularity to Bitcoin chain games such as Bitcoin Cats, IDO platforms BakerySwap, Bounce, etc. At the same time, BRC20 continues to be hot, and the Bitcoin transaction fee rate continues to soar, reaching as high as 600 satoshis/byte. The cost of a BRC20 transaction is about $80.
In fact, most meme-based BRC20 and other projects are mostly short-term prosperity, and the popularity may not be sustainable. What can be sustained is the Bitcoin ecological infrastructure it brings, which relatively speaking has long-term value. Today, let’s do it together Let’s take a brief inventory of the infrastructure that has emerged in the current Bitcoin ecosystem.
01
Bitcoin Ecosystem
The main theme of the last bull market was the Ethereum ecosystem, and the main theme of this bull market is the Bitcoin ecosystem. It can be said that the recent Bitcoin ecosystem explosion started with meme tokens, but it will definitely not be limited to the meme level. When the sudden wealth effect attracts capital in the circle, a large number of Bitcoin-related projects will inevitably emerge. Let's briefly sort out some of the more popular Bitcoin-related concepts so far.
Launcher: Bounce Brand
Bounce Brand (formerly Bounce Finance) is a decentralized auction protocol that aims to provide users with the ability to create and participate in various types of auctions on multiple blockchain networks. Recently, it has received a lot of attention due to the auctions of Bitcoin-related concept projects such as MultiBit (MUBI) and Bitstable (BSSB), and the amazing returns it has achieved.
On the other hand, in early December, Bounce Brand launched BounceBit, a DeFi solution designed for the Bitcoin ecosystem, and launched the Bitcoin anchor coin BTCB to increase Bitcoin liquidity, making it a Bitcoin ecological project. Because of the popularity of Bitcoin-related concepts and the fact that it is one of the few Bitcoin ecological projects listed on BN, it has become very popular. Recently, its new project bDID was exposed to have been shipping, and the price avalanche, even leading to a drop in auction, mubi, etc.
In addition, TurtSat’s function is similar to Bounce Brand, but this type of project consumes a lot of resources from the project owners. If the project owners can continue to launch high-quality projects, it may bring continuous empowerment to the platform.
DeFi Platform: Alex Lab
ALEX Labs is a DeFi protocol built on Stacks, which aims to provide a range of services for Bitcoin applications, including Token issuance, fixed-rating and fixed-term lending without liquidation risk, DEX, and interest-bearing, etc. The goal is to build a broader Bitcoin financial ecosystem and provide more opportunities and choices for Bitcoin holders and DeFi users.
At the end of November, it announced the launch of the cross-chain component ALEX Bridge, which aims to achieve seamless bridging between Bitcoin and other assets (such as BRC20 Token) and provide safe and reliable services. In addition, it recently received strategic investment from LK Venture, a subsidiary of Linekong Interactive, which has added momentum to its development in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Cross-chain bridge: MultiBit
MultiBit is a cross-chain bridge protocol designed to connect liquidity between Bitcoin and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks. It allows users to seamlessly transfer tokens between different blockchain networks. Specifically, MultiBit focuses on bridging the transfer between BRC20 Tokens and EVM networks such as ETH and BSC.
MultiBit also provides a staking mechanism, that is, users can stake MultiBit's native Token MUBI to obtain governance rights and receive rewards through staking, which may be issued in the form of ERC20 or BRC20 Tokens. In more than 40 days since its launch, the transaction volume of MultiBit Bridge has exceeded 440 million US dollars, and DWF has played a driving role in its development.
Layer 2: MAP Protocol
MAP Protocol is a Bitcoin Layer2 network for peer-to-peer cross-chain interoperability. It uses Bitcoin's security mechanism to enable assets and users of other public chains to interact seamlessly with the Bitcoin network, thereby enhancing the security of the network and realizing BRC20 cross-chain capabilities.
Stablecoin: BitStable
BitStable is a decentralized asset protocol built on Bitcoin. It aims to provide a stablecoin solution for the Bitcoin ecosystem, adding liquidity and flexibility to it, similar to MakerDAO on Ethereum. Through BitStable, users can create, trade and manage synthetic assets that simulate real assets and maintain a fixed value ratio with them. It also introduces the stablecoin DAII and the native token BSSB, which have similar functions to DAI and MKR in MakerDAO, except that the issuance place has been changed from Ethereum to Bitcoin. However, the current Bitcoin ecosystem is relatively imperfect, resulting in fewer current usage scenarios.
The above are the more popular Bitcoin ecological projects in recent times. Due to limited space, some smaller projects are not listed. It can be seen that most of them are direct copies of the Ethereum ecosystem, and are currently in their infancy. Many projects are not so formal. Some projects may have been working on other tracks or focusing on other chains before. Recently, due to the popularity of the Bitcoin ecosystem, they have turned to Bitcoin. This phenomenon cannot be said to be bad. After all, sometimes, one step faster means all steps faster. It will be inevitable that more and more projects will begin to take into account the Bitcoin ecosystem.
02
NFT
With the development of this period, NFT in Bitcoin ecosystem has blossomed. According to Cryptoslam data, Bitcoin accounted for 57.25% of all NFT transactions last week with a transaction volume of US$265.61 million. Among the top ten NFT transaction volumes in the past 30 days, Bitcoin ecosystem occupied 7. Now let's take a brief look at the popular NFTs in Bitcoin ecosystem.
Bitcoin Frogs
The total number of Bitcoin Frogs is 10,000. Bitcoin Ordinals NFT was launched on March 8, 2023, and is currently the NFT leader in the Bitcoin track.
Bitcoin Frogs was created by Deezy Labs' Vibegawd and anonymous artist Frogtoshi. The project was minted through Deezy Labs' launch platform and supports lightning payments. Initially, the mint of Bitcoin Frogs was free and only required a small fee. However, an accident occurred during the mint process, resulting in all Frogs not displaying clothing correctly and being called "naked frogs".
To resolve this issue, the team used Replace-by-Fee (RBF) to cancel the pending naked frogs and re-mint the correct frogs. Despite the losses Deezy Labs suffered as a result of the inscription incident, the Bitcoin Frogs community continues to grow and develop.
Bitmap
Bitmap has a total of about 820,000 and is the first metaverse project in the Bitcoin ecosystem. It is based on Ordinals theory and Bitmap theory, and creates a digital landscape by mapping the transaction inputs in the Bitcoin block to land. The size of each plot depends on the size of the transaction input, and they form blocks or regions. The second phase of the project introduced the concept of partitioning, allowing users to independently divide their own plots within the block.
Goosinals
Goosinals has a total of 10,000, and is a project inspired by the generative artwork Ringers #879. Ringers is a generative art project released by artist Dmitri Cherniak in 2021. One of the works looks like a goose and is nicknamed "Big Goose". One of the rare Ringers#879was purchased by the famous NFT collector @Punk6529 for more than $6.2 million, becoming the second most expensive generative art work ever sold.
TOOTHY
TOOTHY is one of the first NFT projects to be minted after the Atomicals protocol Dmint was updated. The total number is 10,000. Due to the variable gas fee, the highest cost of one NFT is about $100. The current floor price is $1,700, making it the leading NFT of the Atomicals protocol.
03
Basic Tools
With the explosion of inscriptions and the gradual improvement of the Bitcoin ecosystem in the past year, some basic auxiliary tools have become an indispensable part of investors. Here is a brief introduction to several tools that are easy to use frequently.
Wallet, Market
1）Unisat
As the first inscription plug-in wallet to integrate Ordinals, Unisat supports Ordinals and BRC20, and can help users store, mint and transfer BRC20 Tokens, including buying and selling BTC, NFTs, domain names, etc.
Unisat Marketplace is a platform under Unisat that provides transactions for BRC20 Token and is used in conjunction with the Unisat wallet.
2) OKX Web3 Wallet
As a model of trading platforms that have surpassed others this year, the OKX Web3 wallet is the first to support the trading and staking of BRC20 inscriptions and BTC NFTs, which has brought a lot of traffic to its wallet. The OKX Web3 wallet has now become the largest BRC20 inscription and BTC NFT trading market in the Ordinals market. As of December 24, the total transaction volume of the OKX Web3 wallet reached 870 million US dollars. On the other hand, the current OKX Web3 market experience in terms of order placement and transaction speed is better than the Unisat market.
3）Magic Eden
Magic Eden is the leading NFT market on Solana, providing NFT trading, minting and management. In March this year, Magic Eden launched the Bitcoin ecosystem NFT market, allowing users to list, buy and sell Ordinals. Some new Bitcoin NFTs generally choose to be listed on Magic Eden.
On-chain tools
1) Bitcoin browser mempool
Mempool focuses on the memory pool and blockchain browser functions of the Bitcoin community. It provides real-time transaction status and data, allowing users to view the status of current pending transactions. Because Unisat is embedded with Mempool, it should be the most used one at present. It is mainly used to query the transaction confirmation status on the chain and the current real-time gas fee. Because the big cake chain is very volatile, it is generally 50-100 higher than the high priority given by it when applying for new shares to ensure the success of the transaction, otherwise it will be cheap for the block producer. Bitcoin generally produces a block every 10 minutes, which can be used to judge the current block status, whether it is stuck, whether the high gas is caused by the block or the chain activity, and how much gas to give.
2）mct.xyz
MCT provides a series of blockchain toolboxes, allowing users to conveniently manage wallets, query follow-up information, receive push notifications, etc. Recently, its inscription casting function has been used more frequently, covering real-time monitoring of inscription projects on more than 20 public chains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, etc., and supports users to perform batch inscriptions. Most of the tools are free, and a few are paid. However, it should be noted that some functions require the import of wallet private keys before they can be used. Plaintext private key operations are extremely risky, so be sure to use them with caution.
3)GeniiData
As an Ordinals ecological data analysis platform, GeniiData focuses on providing relevant data services for BRC20 Token and ORC-20 Token, helping users obtain data on Token popularity, ranking, deployment information and transaction records, and supports real-time monitoring and verification of transaction status. The functions are similar to MCT, which has many and complex functions but is not sophisticated enough. GeniiData is more direct in BRC20 monitoring.
The upper part of the picture below shows the current activity on the Bitcoin chain, what transactions everyone is doing, and the lower part shows what everyone is doing in a certain period of time recently, the specific number of times and progress, etc. MCT and GeniiData can be used in combination.
4）gasnow
Gasnow is a plug-in application that can monitor the gas usage of each chain in real time (marked in red in the upper right corner of the picture below). When gas soars, you can use MCT or GeniiData to check the specific reasons for the surge. Currently, it supports real-time gas information of multiple chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
5) Mining pool acceleration
If the Bitcoin transaction fee is too low, the transaction will not be confirmed, and the wallet may not be used, new transactions cannot be sent, and the wallet will be directly invalidated. The difference between Bitcoin wallet and Ethereum wallet is that you cannot use your own wallet to increase gas to directly accelerate. If the gas remains high and you are in a hurry to use your wallet, you can use the acceleration service of BN mining pool, enter the hash value, log in to the BN account for paid acceleration, and the fee ranges from tens to more than one hundred dollars.
The above are some of the most commonly used on-chain tools. Although the popularity of BRC20 IPOs has declined recently, we still hope that these tools can help you, and you are also welcome to add your own tools.
04
summary
With the development during this period, the Bitcoin ecosystem has undergone tremendous changes. From the initial hype of meme concepts such as BRC20 to the continuous improvement of the current infrastructure, the Bitcoin ecosystem will become an important part of the entire industry.
Regarding the future development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, some people believe that as the Bitcoin halving approaches, there will be a big adjustment, and then it will be time to pick up the bloody chips. Some people believe that as the halving approaches, the Bitcoin ecosystem will also stagnate, and the focus will switch to other tracks such as AI and Ethereum. What do you think? Welcome to share your views in the comment area.
