Bitcoin Ecosystem and Inscription Trend: The Innovative Path of Established Projects

This year's mainstream narrative in the cryptocurrency space revolves around Bitcoin's strong performance and the booming development of the inscription ecosystem. The rise in Bitcoin's price is attributed to multiple factors, including the prosperity of the on-chain ecosystem, expectations of a spot ETF, the approaching halving cycle, and the possible interest rate cut policy from the Federal Reserve. At the same time, the large-scale entry of institutional investors has also brought significant growth momentum to Bitcoin.

The inscription ecosystem, especially represented by Ordinals, has not only injected new vitality into the Bitcoin ecosystem, but also influenced other public chains. Almost all mainstream public chains have developed their own inscription gameplay, and many mature projects have also seized this opportunity to rejuvenate.

Bounce: Bitcoin Ecological Project Auction and Layer 2 Development

Bounce Finance, as a multi-chain supported Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) protocol, has recently launched several auction activities for Bitcoin ecosystem projects. These projects have a low initial valuation, but as the auctions progress, the tokens from earlier projects can serve as participation tools for subsequent auctions, promoting healthy interaction among projects. Bounce's native token AUCTION has also benefited and increased in this process.

The recent GoDID project auction is a typical case. GoDID, as a decentralized identity (DID) market aggregator, fully utilizes the ecological advantages of the Bounce platform in its token distribution plan, including using AUCTION and early-stage project tokens to participate in the distribution.

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

Uniswap Expands to Rootstock

As a leading decentralized exchange, Uniswap has recently deployed its V3 version to the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock through the efforts of GFX Labs. This move marks an important expansion of Uniswap into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Rootstock (RSK) is a Bitcoin sidechain that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), ensuring security through merged mining and providing SBTC, which is 1:1 pegged to Bitcoin. RSK adopts a joint guarantor model, where asset transfers between Bitcoin and RSK are managed by trusted entities within the community.

Currently, the liquidity scale of Uniswap on Rootstock has reached $535,000.

Magic Eden Enters the Bitcoin NFT Market

Magic Eden, as a major NFT marketplace in the Solana ecosystem, announced in March this year its expansion into the Bitcoin ecosystem, aligning with the rising trend of Ordinals NFTs. This move not only broadens Magic Eden's business scope but also strengthens its position in the multi-chain NFT market.

Currently, NFT projects in the Bitcoin ecosystem such as bitmap and Bitcoin Frogs have ranked among the top in trading volume on the Magic Eden platform.

Nostr: The Fusion of Decentralized Social Networking and Micropayments

Nostr, as a decentralized social protocol, has received support from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. In September of this year, Nostr introduced the "Zaps" micropayment feature through the NIP-57 upgrade, allowing users to make quick and low-cost tips or payments within the Nostr client.

Zaps are primarily implemented through the Lightning Network, allowing users to initiate payment requests in the Nostr client, which are processed by the LNURL server and directly paid to the recipient's Lightning wallet. As of now, the number of Zap payments has exceeded 50,000.

ALEX: BRC20 Trading and Bitcoin Oracle

ALEX, as the main DeFi platform on Stacks, recently developed the B20 decentralized exchange specifically for trading BRC20 tokens. B20 supports the use of sUSDT as the base currency, providing more liquidity options for BRC20 tokens.

In addition, ALEX also plans to launch the first Bitcoin oracle for BRC20 tokens. This work aims to achieve decentralized consensus for BRC20 indexing by leveraging the programmability of Stacks and the ability to read Bitcoin state.

The Inscription Craze of Various Public Chains

The successful application of inscription technology on Bitcoin has sparked imitation from other public chains. Currently, more than 30 public chains have released or are preparing to launch inscription projects, such as Ethereum's ETHS, Solana's SOLS, and Avalanche's AVAV.

However, the inscriptions on smart contract chains differ from traditional smart contracts in some ways. Taking Ethscriptions as an example, it reduces transaction costs by using calldata and avoiding traditional smart contract storage and execution. However, this approach may introduce new security risks, and its functionality may not be as flexible as that of traditional smart contracts.

Conclusion

The development of the Bitcoin ecosystem has driven innovation in multiple projects. Bounce has pioneered a unique auction model and plans to develop Layer 2; Nostr combines decentralized social networking with micro-payments; ALEX has developed a BRC20 trading market and plans to launch a decentralized Bitcoin oracle; Uniswap and Magic Eden have expanded their business into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The widespread application of inscription technology on various public chains demonstrates its potential, but the application on smart contract chains still needs to weigh cost-effectiveness against functionality. For non-smart contract chains like Bitcoin, the significance of inscription technology is even greater, providing a new method for asset issuance.