Source:
Runes Chinese Community
Author:
Jasmine
Founder Cesay of the Ordinals and Runes protocols detailed the upcoming homogenized token protocol Runes, which will go live in April around the time of Bitcoin’s halving, for the first time on the latest episode of the hellmoneypod program.
2-minute summary of what Casey talked about (there’s Alpha at the end)
Table of Contents
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1. What are Runes?
2. What does Runes based on UTXO mean?
3. How to issue (etch) a new Rune symbol?
4. How to transfer Runes?
What is OP_Return output?
How to transfer to a specific output or address?
5. Runes compatible with SPV wallets
6. Brc20 vs Runes
7. What are the Alpha?
Runes is a protocol for issuing homogenized tokens on the Bitcoin network. In Casey’s words, Runes do not mint “junk” coins, but only provide a place to mint “junk” coins. The core of the protocol is based on #UTXO and is designed very concisely.
UTXO stands for “Unspent Transaction Output.” In the Bitcoin network, during a transaction, some existing inputs need to be selected, consumed to generate new UTXOs, which can then serve as inputs for future transactions.
Runes based on UTXO mean that transaction outputs can contain not only bitcoins but also different quantities and types of Runes. For example, a transaction output can contain 1 bitcoin, 100 A Runes, and 1000 B Runes at the same time.
The issuance process of Rune tokens is called “etching.” Each Rune name is unique and can be composed of uppercase letters A-Z and the “•” symbol.
To balance the issuance pace of Runes and prevent popular and short names of Runes from being quickly occupied in the early stages, the Runes protocol requires a minimum name length of at least 13 letters for the first four months after launch, such as “PEPE•IS•AWESOME.”
Afterward, approximately every four months, the minimum length of names decreases by one letter until the next halving event, at which point Runes with only a single character (26 in total) can be created.
Runes issuance adopts the Commit-Reveal mechanism to prevent miners from knowing the name of the Rune in advance and rushing to mint it.
The unit of Rune tokens can be a traditional currency unit, such as $, or any Unicode emoji. This design makes Rune tokens more interesting and personalized, for example, “100 PEPE•IS•AWESOME.”
Although Casey is the founder of Ordinals, Runes are not based on the Ordinal protocol. When transferring Runes, the order of inputs and Sats is not crucial, but the order of outputs directly affects the result of the transfer. Typically, in a transaction, all the Runes in the inputs will default to be transferred to the first output. However, by constructing an OP_Return output, Runes can be directed to specific outputs.
OP_RETURN is an opcode in the Bitcoin transaction scripting language used to mark a transaction output as unspendable while allowing embedding up to 80 bytes of arbitrary data on the Bitcoin blockchain. Therefore, an OP_Return output can be seen as a type of output used only for carrying data and not for transactions.
Theoretically, if the output does not contain OP_Return or OP_Return does not contain any data, all Runes will default to be transferred to the first non-OP_Return output. For example, if you have 100 A Runes and want to transfer 25 to Xiao Ming while keeping 75, you can set the first output of the transaction to be OP_Return, the second output to be your address, and the third output to be Xiao Ming’s address. Specify in OP_Return that you want to transfer 25 Runes to the third output (Xiao Ming’s address), then the remaining 75 Runes without a specified receiving address will automatically be transferred to the first non-OP_Return output (your address).
Attention to developers building Runes wallets:
SPV (Simple Payment Verification) wallets are lightweight Bitcoin wallets that download and verify only block header data related to user transactions, rather than downloading the entire blockchain. Users can use SPV wallets to manage and use Rune tokens, enjoying a lightweight, simple, and fast transaction experience.
Casey believes that the key to the success of Brc20 lies in its pioneering open mint model, allowing everyone to participate in the minting process. Casey acknowledges the success of Brc20 and states that Runes should learn from its advantages while avoiding its technical flaws (mainly the issue of junk UTXO inflation).
Rune offers two issuance methods: fixed total supply (projects can pre-mine) and Open Mint (fair launch, projects cannot pre-mine). Casey believes that the current market is flooded with various speculative behaviors, vying to become the first Rune, and the first Rune will become the Shilling Point.
To prevent the first Rune from being snatched or pre-mined by VCs or projects, Casey decided to hardcode the first 10 Runes (Rune 0 – Rune 9) into the Runes protocol, supporting only open mint, so that everyone can participate fairly and play together.
Currently, he is soliciting interesting and meme-able token names, units, and minting rules from the community. Here Casey mentioned some interesting names he finds, such as COMMUNISTRUNE, ANARCHISTRUNE, CYBERPUNKRUNE, and more.
Friends with big ideas and meme skills are welcome to give their opinions and submit the form here. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9etAFSzDzSQFHlLDJJMyv_LLnjaUCqWtyQxNCv8SeuUbsug/viewform
Lastly, Casey bluntly stated that 99.9% of homogenized tokens are scams , so everyone should not proudly claim to change the world but admit that this is an industry full of gambling and speculation, treat everyone honestly, and have fun!
This article is authorized for reprint by PANews
Hell Money program link
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