Progress of the BTC ecosystem in terms of technology

Since the first quarter of 2024, the BTC ecosystem has made significant progress on the technical level, particularly in programmable scalability solutions. This article will introduce several notable BTC scalability solutions, including Fractal Bitcoin, AVM, OP_NET, BRC100, and programmable runes.

Fractal

Fractal is a scalable framework based on the virtualization of the Bitcoin Core client software. It recursively creates a tree structure, where each layer of the blockchain can improve the overall performance of the network. Fractal is fully compatible with Bitcoin and its infrastructure, while also activating the op_cat operator, allowing for more logic to be implemented.

The project launched its Beta testnet on June 1, 2024, and is expected to launch the mainnet in September 2024. The Fractal network will have its own token, with 50% produced through mining, 15% for the ecosystem, 5% for early investor presales, 20% for advisors and core contributors, and 10% for building partnerships and liquidity.

Architecture Design

Fractal packages the Bitcoin Core client into a deployable and runnable blockchain software package (BCSP), recursively anchored on the Bitcoin mainnet. It can independently run one or more BCSP instances, achieving efficient hardware performance sharing.

Fractal made some modifications to bitcoin core, including shortening the block confirmation time to 30 seconds or less, and increasing the block size to 20 MB, in order to ensure adequate performance and reduced latency.

In terms of cross-chain asset transfer, Fractal has built a universal asset transfer interface to achieve seamless asset transfer between different layers. Assets such as Bitcoin, as well as BRC-20 and Ordinals, can be bridged through a decentralized method.

Security Assurance

Fractal enhances the security of its PoW mechanism mainly through three aspects:

1. Introduce pooled mining, where one out of every three blocks is generated through merged mining with BTC miners.
2. The remaining two blocks are produced by the Fractal network's own computing power.
3. The newly created virtualization instance chain will experience an initial vulnerability period during the startup phase, and the operator can set a specific block height to provide protection.

AVM

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

AVM achieves Turing completeness through the dual-stack PDA(, allowing the storage automaton ) to be pushed in. The virtual machine runs in a sandbox that includes an indexer, instruction parser, and global state, enabling the processing of smart contracts and state synchronization verification.

The AVM instruction set includes the complete BTC opcodes, allowing developers to program using features of BTC that are not enabled. It is suitable for any metadata protocol and only requires minor adjustments to the indexer under the virtual machine.

OP_NET

OP_NET is committed to introducing Ethereum-like smart contract functions on the Bitcoin network. It provides a complete, compact, and easy-to-use development library, primarily written in AssemblyScript.

Core Functions and Features

1. Preserve the block consensus and data availability of Bitcoin.
2. Execute complex calculations on the Bitcoin block by running the virtual machine (OP_VM).
3. Support for multiple programming languages, such as AssemblyScript, Rust, and Python.
4. Enable advanced smart contract features using Tapscript.
5. Compatible with SegWit and Taproot.
6. The token design is not bound to UTXO, avoiding the risk of mistakenly sending tokens to miners.

ecological project

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

BRC100

BRC-100 is a decentralized computing protocol built on the Ordinals theory. It enables complex DeFi operations by adding new functions such as "burn" and "mint" to brc20.

Main Operations

• mint2/mint3: Used to generate new tokens or convert balances in the application to UTXO.
• burn2/burn3: Used to destroy tokens or convert tokens into the state of the application.

extension and compatibility

The BRC-100 protocol stack includes the BRC-101( decentralized on-chain governance protocol), the BRC-102( automated liquidity protocol), and the BRC-104( liquidity staking/re-staking pool protocol), among other extended protocols.

Ecological Project

1. inBRC: The first BRC-100 market and indexer
2. 100Swap: A decentralized exchange for Bitcoin L1 AMM inscriptions based on the BRC-102 protocol
3. 100Layer: Liquidity Protocol on Bitcoin L1

Programmable Runes ( Protorunes )

Programmable runes are an extension layer of runes that allows the creation of programmable assets with runes. The Proto-Runes Protocol is the main project among them, providing a framework for managing and transferring rune assets between sub-protocols.

Core Mechanism

1. Protoburn: Allows the conversion of runes into representations used by sub-protocols.
2. Protomessage: The operational instructions executed within the subprotocol.
3. Pointer: Used to specify the target position of Protostone.

Latest Progress

QUORUM•GENESIS•PROTORUNE has successfully completed Protoburn, becoming the first Protorune. This is a functional model that implements on-chain governance on Bitcoin L1, allowing users to generate voting tokens through protomessage for a transparent and effective governance process.