Runes Handbook
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Origins
    • Segregated Witness (SegWit) Upgrade
    • Taproot Upgrade
    • Inscriptions
    • Ordinal Theory (Ordinals)
      • Rarity
      • Supply of Rare Satoshis
      • Names
    • BRC-20
    • Why Runes?
  • 3. Runes
    • Bitcoin’s UTXO Model
    • The Runes Protocol
    • OP_Return
    • Motivation for Runes
    • Bitcoin Runes vs BRC-20
    • Launch
      • The First Runes
    • What are Bitcoin Runes For?
      • Memecoins
      • DeFi
  • 4. How Do Bitcoin Runes Work?
    • Etching (Creating a Rune)
      • Name
      • Symbol
      • Divisibility
      • Premine
      • Terms
    • Minting
    • Transfering
    • Runestone
    • Rune Seasons
    • Ecosystem
      • Launchpads
      • Marketplaces
      • Wallets
      • Data / Analysis
      • Explorers
    • Storing Bitcoin Runes
  • 5. Terminology
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  1. 2. Origins

BRC-20

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Last updated 1 year ago

In the wake of the “” Ordinals, a natural question arose: "What about tokens on Bitcoin?"

In March, a pseudonymous user named from Crypto X proposed a theoretical method called BRC-20 that could create a fungible token standard on top of the Ordinals Protocol.

The idea behind BRC-20 was to inscribe JSON data onto individual sats via Ordinals, allowing for the deployment, minting, and transfer of fungible tokens.

Since JSON is a text-based data format, the BRC-20 method essentially involved inscribing text onto sats to create fungible tokens.

In the months following Domo’s proposal, BRC-20 tokens, or text-based Inscriptions, became the dominant type of Inscription and the default fungible token standard on Bitcoin.

Non-fungible
fungible
Domo