Fractal Bitcoin: A New Exploration in the Bitcoin Ecosystem

Since September, with the heated discussions in the community sparked by Fractal, the market focus has returned to the Bitcoin ecosystem. A large number of users are participating in the assets and gameplay launched by Fractal, leading to high on-chain gas fees. The main reasons for Fractal's significant impact are as follows:

First, the overall market is currently sluggish, lacking fresh narratives. Secondly, based on the precedent of a previous wallet's generous airdrop, many users are placing high importance on the launch of Fractal, even becoming extremely competitive during the testnet phase, with an estimated over 10 million addresses participating in testnet tasks in hopes of receiving airdrop rewards. Finally, the high returns brought by asset protocols like Cat20, alongside the continuous fermentation of the profit-making effect, have further increased the popularity of Fractal.

In addition, the official hunger marketing strategy of a certain wallet also played a role in promoting the situation. Originally, the circulating supply of the airdropped FB was very small, but as the on-chain competition intensified, the price of FB skyrocketed, becoming a "golden shovel" in a certain sense, which indirectly accelerated the development of Fractal.

Based on the above reasons, it is essential to conduct an in-depth analysis of Fractal.

Overview of Fractal: The Native Solution for Bitcoin Scaling

Fractal Bitcoin is a solution for Bitcoin scaling that is implemented by recursively extending infinite layers on the basis of the Bitcoin core code. It is designed as a second-layer network or sidechain for Bitcoin and is a native expansion of the first-layer network of Bitcoin. While maintaining orthodoxy, it aims to improve transaction efficiency by accelerating block generation speed and expanding block capacity.

Its working principle includes full compatibility with the Bitcoin mainnet (. Users can trade on the Fractal Bitcoin network, and these transactions can then interact or synchronize with the Bitcoin mainnet ), while providing faster transaction confirmation times (, such as 30 seconds per block ) and a larger block capacity (, 20 times that of the Bitcoin mainnet ).

As a native expansion solution, Fractal can start from the Bitcoin main chain to achieve secure asset transfers across various layers. Assets such as Bitcoin, BRC-20, Ordinals, etc. can be bridged through a decentralized bridge. The underlying mechanism features a dynamically replaceable rotating MPC signature mechanism, while also taking into account the specific aspects of the BRC-20 standard.

Fractal functions more like the Bitcoin testnet, supporting some features that have not yet been activated on the mainnet, similar to a testing ground, providing a better user experience and performance optimization, making it very suitable for complex applications to fully experiment and innovate. At the same time, it allows users to participate, providing feedback in a real interactive environment, similar to the significance of EVM layer2 for Ethereum.

Investment and Financing: Development Power Under Strong Alliance

The fractal Bitcoin network was developed in collaboration between a certain wallet and a certain fund. As the main developer and promoter, the certain wallet is a leading Bitcoin wallet with over 900,000 active users every week. It has received undisclosed amounts of funding five times, two of which were led by a certain trading platform, along with investments from several other capital sources.

A certain fund is a crypto-native fund, with a portfolio that includes multiple well-known projects, and has extensive experience in exiting in USD A9 and investing in 100x projects as well as developing the most commonly used blockchain applications globally. Overall, the resources of the two project parties are relatively more prominent in a certain wallet, which has attracted a large number of loyal users through successful brand building and previous generous airdrops, undoubtedly making it the best endorsement for Fractal.

With the resource support of both project parties, Fractal implemented a series of strategic plans to initiate user and developer participation. After the mainnet launch, Fractal distributed 1 million FB tokens to over 100,000 eligible addresses from certain wallets and launched various developer resource funding programs, demonstrating Fractal's ambition for ecological construction.

Fractal Highlights: Outstanding Advantages

The highlights of Fractal lie in the performance optimization and improvements based on the Bitcoin mainnet, as well as the introduction of related asset issuance methods and ecological applications. Figuratively speaking, Fractal is like using the "old bottle" of Bitcoin mainnet resources to hold the "new wine" of a brand new asset issuance method. Specifically:

The overall design of Fractal allows assets like Bitcoin, BRC-20, and Ordinals to be bridged through a decentralized bridge. Transactions made by users on the Fractal Bitcoin network will subsequently interact or synchronize with the Bitcoin mainnet, while providing faster transaction confirmation times and larger block capacity than the mainnet.

Implementation Path: Multi-layer Expansion, Mining Mechanism, and OP_CAT

Multi-layer Expansion Mechanism

Fractal enhances Bitcoin transaction speed through recursive extension layers, establishing multiple layers of extension on the Bitcoin main chain, forming a tree structure. This design allows each layer to further fork, increasing the network's parallel processing capability. Each layer can independently handle transactions and dynamically adjust the number of layers as needed. During peak transaction periods, it can quickly increase the levels to process more transactions, allowing the network to flexibly respond to various loads.

It's like building countless parallel highways alongside the Bitcoin mainnet. Each road can expand the Bitcoin mainnet or extend another road. This way, each has its own unique value orientation, allowing users to solve congestion issues without changing their "transportation".

Cadence Mining ( Rhythm Mining )

Fractal adopts the same PoW consensus mechanism as Bitcoin, which means that BTC miners can seamlessly transition to Fractal block mining using existing hardware such as ASICs and GPUs, achieving a win-win situation by improving efficiency through shared workload and providing additional economic benefits to Bitcoin miners.

The mining method of Fractal is divided into permissionless mining and merged mining. In every three blocks, two are generated through permissionless mining, and one is generated through merged mining. Permissionless mining allows anyone with the appropriate tools to mine Fractal blocks, and anyone can participate in the network by running a node. Merged mining is aimed at BTC miners, allowing them to mine BTC and Fractal blocks simultaneously without the need for additional computing power.

OP_CAT

OP_CAT is an opcode in the Bitcoin scripting language, originally used for string concatenation. It was removed in 2010 due to security and memory usage considerations, as it could lead to excessive memory usage in scripts. Its advantage lies in its ability to construct more complex and trustless scripting capabilities needed for Bitcoin infrastructure, which is crucial for implementing advanced transaction conditions and features. Fractal Bitcoin's introduction of OP_CAT may bring more development possibilities to the BTC ecosystem, such as on-chain applications, smart contracts, and more.

Fractal Token Economics

The fractal Bitcoin mainnet primarily consumes two types of tokens: $FB as the general gas, and $SATS as the exclusive gas for a certain swap.

The total issuance is 210 million, and after the mainnet goes live, only the tokens produced by mining will be tradable, while other tokens will have a locking mechanism, with private placement locked for six months.

50% - PoW mining, Bitcoin miners can directly mine $FB.

15% - Ecosystem Treasury, used for investment and support of Fractal ecosystem projects. Within 10 years, up to 10% of the total pool can be used each year. 15% - Core contributors, building and maintaining the core Fractal software. All tokens are locked for 7 months and released linearly within 12 months. 10% - Community subsidies, establishing partnerships and liquidity programs. Up to 10% of the total pool can be used each year for 10 years. 5% - Pre-sale, aimed at early investors and network participants, all tokens are locked for 7 months and released linearly over 12 months. 5% - Consultant, providing strategic advice and support for the project. Within 5 years, up to 20% of the total pool may be used each year.

Currently, the official has not clearly stated whether there will be airdrop rewards for users participating in the testnet, but it is possible that this could be done through community subsidies or the ecosystem treasury. Although the 5% for advisors, 10% for community subsidies, and 15% for the ecosystem treasury are unlikely to be misappropriated by the team, aside from the 5% allocated to investors and the 50% allocated for mining which has a time cost, the remaining 45% is still controlled by the official in the short term, which may pose a risk.

To ensure full transparency, the authorities allow users to subsequently track the following address to check the usage of funds:

Ecosystem Treasury (15%):bc1pukzhdkdghqajp3zvwkx65e7uv5zma6lzalet4xauf3p5c0vdg8wqk2avv6 Community grant (10%):bc1pdrqk5xv3tfpmdsuegnt5a63xucf475r3l0vqg6zulwmtzezg7h6sd2pqx3 Pre-sale (5%):bc1put2rhzx0cwz552epm25dt2rexg2tzx9sws2sjcezsjm9y7h7ct8svhpzf2 Consultant (5%):bc1pm2h0420vmgayhzs59d5nf0mzjlf3q6vrnlpqytefe3rk6a8ku3zq59walm Main contributor (15% ):bc1ppvqe8ugt27kgw4trvnzjvcfzn52702tq2ahe7cgzw0jsv67vrhysvgnndz

Fractal Ecosystem Overview

CAT 20

The hottest ecological protocol in Fractal right now is undoubtedly the CAT20 protocol launched by a certain protocol, released in the early hours of September 11, with a quantity of 21 million. The code shows traces of Chinese development, and specific information about the project party has not been disclosed. Although the ambiguity of the code and project party information may pose risks, the community sentiment and the spread by various KOLs have led to a massive influx of users minting, causing the Gas on the Fractal chain to soar, peaking close to 7000. The extremely high popularity even pushed the official token FB to be speculated at a price of 40U, demonstrating the level of enthusiasm in the entire crypto circle for the CAT20 protocol. Interestingly, some founders and teams have staged a "True and False Monkey King" drama around the CAT20 protocol, with three parties each holding different views, which precisely proves the protocol's breakout.

Comparing the CAT protocol with the existing Bitcoin protocol, its main innovation is the use of the OP_CAT opcode, which perfectly fits the Fractal ecosystem. Its modular and programmable minting provides flexible and composable rules for complex decentralized applications such as AMM, lending, and staking. Another notable feature is that transactions are fully verified by miners and reduce dependence on indexers. Unlike token standards that may rely on external or third-party verification, CAT20 ensures that all transactions are directly confirmed by Bitcoin miners, making the protocol itself harder to be affected by inconsistencies or manipulations from indexers.

As of the time of writing, a certain wallet indicated that the CAT20 trading market is under research, and official resources support is forthcoming. However, the official social media account of the CAT20 protocol has suddenly been frozen, which seems to increase uncertainty. In short, since the protocol is still in its early stages, there are still many discussable issues regarding its feasibility, requiring further attention to specific planning and performance in the future.

Some Project

From the perspective of social media fan count and KOL attention, a certain project can be considered quite noteworthy. Initially, it was a provider of infrastructure for the Runes protocol, with products including the Runes browser, trading market, encyclopedia, etc. It later decided to rebrand and reshape its brand, integrating into fractal Bitcoin. After the name change, it will continue to support related runes while focusing on the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. Currently, a comprehensive trading market for the fractal Bitcoin ecosystem has been launched, allowing users to check Mint progress, wallet balances, etc., and it will also support the upcoming Cat721. Recently, the official team launched a mining pool activity, where ASIC mining power can be rented to participate in $FB mining, with a total quota of $50,000. Specific risks and returns need to be considered comprehensively.

a certain metaverse project

A certain metaverse project is built on Fractal, pioneering immersion on Fractal.