TL;DR
- The Bitcoin ecosystem is having a remarkable revival, with the BRC-20 token market cap surpassing over $4 billion after its introduction.
- The demand for minting is steadily increasing as the BRC-20 token is gaining popularity as one of the most significant technological advancements on the 15-year blockchain.
Bitcoin Ecosystem Back to Life After BRC-20 Tokens Introduction
Bitcoin’s ecosystem is experiencing a dramatic recovery. This comes shortly after the market cap of the BRC-20 token surpassed $4 billion right after its invention in January 2023.
According to a December 15, 2023 report by Bitget, Bitcoin miners are witnessing record-high revenue, reaching all-time highs.
It is primarily attributed to on-chain fees, which will go from 1.7% in August to 19.57% by November 2023.
In addition, daily mining revenue from block rewards has exceeded $40 million in the same month. Bitcoin (BTC) has also seen a remarkable 161% year-to-date gain.
Since its introduction in January 2023 by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor, the BRC-20 token has been gaining popularity.
It’s set to become one of the most significant technological advancements in the 15-year-old blockchain.
Moreover, Ordinals (ORDI) token, the first memecoin invented using the BRC-20 standard, boasts a market cap of $1.34 billion.
BRC-20 tokens leverage Bitcoin Ordinal, a numbering system that assigns a specific number to each Satoshi, or a 1/100 millionth of a Bitcoin.
Therefore enabling tracking and transfer. In addition, combining it with the inscription process adds a data layer to each Satoshi. Allowing users to mint unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.
ARC-20 May Also Add Value to the BTC Ecosystem
Meanwhile, researchers note that the emergence of other Bitcoin token standards may add value to the ecosystem.
A good example is the ARC-20 from the Atomicals Protocol. Others include nonfungible tokens, Bitcoin domains known as “realms,” and on-chain data object storage called “Collection Containers.”
Unlike Ordinals, which rely on third-party sorters to order asset transactions, the Atomicals protocol’s ARC-20 standard uses Bitcoin’s smallest unit, Satoshi, as the smallest unit for issuing assets. This allows Atomicals assets to trace a complete transfer history without relying on any third-party sorter.
Researchers wrote.
There were 366,879 mints on the Atomicals Protocol on December 16, 2023, estimated to cost 55.8 BTC ($2.4 million).
Moreover, as noted by researchers, the number of mints on this particular protocol is just 2.69% of the total mints on Ordinals.
Despite High Gas Fees, Demand Remains High
Despite the high gas fees, there’s still a high community demand for minting BRC-20 tokens.
Using Sats (SATS) memecoin as an example, researchers noted that the memecoin was fully minted on September 24, 2023.
Roughly, the Sats (SATS) had 21,107,258 mints with about 36,061 holders on this day, with the gas fees nearly over $15M.
Researchers predict that in the near future, the second layer solutions, such as Lightning Network, will play a crucial role in the ecosystem.
It may support the broader adoption of Bitcoin payments on a larger scale. The second layer solution may become the largest technical foundation, as predicted by researchers.
This may be due to various innovative moves, including Lightening Labs putting RWAs on the Bitcoin Blockchain.
Will the community demand for minting BRC-20 tokens continue to surge?
Michael Healy
Michael, an entrepreneur, and co-founder of Unit, is a full-stack, mobile, and blockchain developer with extensive experience in the crypto and blockchain industry since 2010. A leading token builder, Unit powers the token economy using the Polkadot-powered Unit Network blockchain. Michael has built a diverse portfolio with multiple successful exits, including encrypted P2P video conferencing, a large UK student social network, and the Wikileaks Android app. He has experience working with top organizations like Wellington Partners, Founders Forum, Google, KPMG,...
