Overview of Bitcoin Asset Issuance New Protocol

1. Rune Alpha

The rise of Rune Alpha is closely related to the recent heated discussions about the "rune" concept. The "rune" was originally proposed by Casey and has gained attention again due to core developer Luke's opposition to "inscription." The essential difference between "rune" and "inscription" lies in the storage location: the former is stored in UTXO, while the latter exists in the segregated witness data of Bitcoin scripts.

However, Rune Alpha is not actually a true "rune". According to its white paper, it is a new inscription protocol based on the ordinals protocol version 0.11.1, different from the "rune" concept proposed by Casey. Nevertheless, Rune Alpha has successfully attracted attention by leveraging the hype around "runes". The minting cost of its first token $cook is about a dozen dollars, and its current off-market price has risen to around $400, but it has not yet launched a formal trading market.

2. CBRC-20

CBRC-20 is a proposal for an efficient meta-protocol standard for fungible tokens on Bitcoin, leveraging the new features introduced in Ordinals version 0.10+. Compared to BRC-20, CBRC-20 implements the following optimizations:

1. Reduce recording costs: You only need to engrave the number "0" on the token, reducing costs by about 10 times.
2. Simplified Index: All information can be directly obtained from the inscribed envelope.
3. Flexibility of MIME Data: Allows operations using any MIME data.
4. Compatible with higher versions of the Ordinals protocol: New features available starting from version 0.10 and above.

The CBRC-20 team employs innovative methods to launch its tokens on trading markets, including direct listing on certain DEX for inscription trading, as well as developing a browser plugin to force display on a certain trading platform.

Recently, the founder of CBRC-20 launched the OSMOSIS experiment, deploying the first meta-meta protocol inscription $SYMM. This approach allows for simultaneous operations of multiple meta protocols, achieving a certain degree of "backdoor listing".

Three, BTNS

Broadcast Token Naming System (BTNS) is an ecosystem built by early Bitcoin participant @jdogresorg. The core idea is to transmit additional broadcast signals over the Bitcoin chain to achieve the issuance of native assets token and NFT.

BTNS-420 is a token protocol standard built on BTNS, integrating various functions such as asset issuance and transfer. Compared to inscriptions and runes, the main features of BTNS include:

1. Does not occupy or change Bitcoin itself, more in line with the ecological concept of Bitcoin.
2. Based on a broadcasting format, more open and transparent.
3. Fully open source, utilizing the original characteristics of Bitcoin for development, with less controversy.

The value of BTNS lies in:

• Achieved asset issuance based on the Bitcoin main chain without occupying the total amount of Bitcoin.
• Provide a fairer way to acquire assets, such as airdrops, fair indexing, etc., to reduce congestion issues.

Currently, @jdogresorg is on vacation, pausing development work, including the expected trading market development.

Summary

Rune Alpha and CBRC-20 both belong to the asset issuance methods based on Ordinals, but CBRC-20 is more innovative. BTNS is a grander concept, belonging to the meta-protocol category, realizing asset issuance through a "broadcast" form without occupying Bitcoin itself. These new protocols bring more possibilities and innovative space to the Bitcoin ecosystem.