What are Bitcoin stamps?
What are Bitcoin stamps?
Intermediate
Published on April 2, 2024 Updated on July 8, 2024
4 million
Key points
The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol integrates images into the Bitcoin blockchain, ensuring the integrity and immutability of digital art.
Compared to Bitcoin Ordinals, the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol offers a more secure approach to data storage and allows for greater flexibility.
This article explores what Bitcoin stamps are, how they work, and some of the ways they differ from Bitcoin ordinals.
Introduction
Over time, Bitcoin has evolved to support various applications beyond its initial purpose, including the incorporation of additional data within transactions. The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol allows for data incorporation, building on the capabilities introduced by earlier technologies like the Ordinals protocol. In this article, we will explore what Bitcoin stamps are, how they work, and what distinguishes them from Bitcoin Ordinals.
What are Bitcoin stamps?
Bitcoin stamps are digital art generated through the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol. They represent a method for integrating digital art within the Bitcoin blockchain. The protocol encodes data within unspent transaction outputs (UTXO), ensuring their immutability by permanently including them in the blockchain.
How do Bitcoin stamps work?
A Bitcoin stamp is created by converting a digital artwork into a base64 string. The string is added to a Bitcoin transaction, marked with the prefix 'STAMP:'. This data is distributed across multiple outputs via multi-signature transactions on. This approach ensures that digital artworks are permanently recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Each Bitcoin stamp receives a special number based on the moment the transaction was made, making it easy to keep them in order. For a stamp to be officially recognized, it must meet certain rules, such as being part of the first transaction that includes a valid 'STAMP:base64' string.
Bitcoin Stamp Protocol
There are two main protocols used in Bitcoin STAMPS: SRC-20 and SRC-721.
1. SRC-20. The SRC-20 token standard is based on the open Counterparty protocol. It incorporates arbitrary data within spendable data transactions, unlike Ordinals, which place data in the witness section.
2. SRC-721. The SRC-721 standard reduces the cost of creating detailed NFTs. It uses the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol to store layered images, which reduces file size using methods like indexed color palettes for each layer. Layers can be grouped into a single NFT, allowing for the creation of high-quality images without incurring high costs.
Bitcoin STAMPS vs. Bitcoin Ordinals
Bitcoin stamps and Bitcoin ordinals are technologies for inscription on the Bitcoin blockchain. Both allow users to attach additional data to the Bitcoin network, but their approaches have clear differences.
Data pruning
Bitcoin ordinals store information as witness data in a separate part of a transaction block. Witness data can be modified by a blockchain node through a process known as data pruning. In contrast, the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol incorporates image data in unspent transaction outputs (UTXO). Therefore, digital artworks minted with Bitcoin STAMPS cannot be pruned, preserving their immutability.
Data size and cost
The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol offers flexible data storage, allowing creators to use images with a resolution of 24 x 24 pixels or higher. However, choosing larger images increases the data size, which can lead to higher transaction costs for the stamp. In contrast, Bitcoin ordinals limit the size of embedded data to the size of a Bitcoin block. This restriction on image resolution keeps transaction fees constant but limits flexibility.
Type of signature
Bitcoin stamps are inherently designed with a multi-signature framework, enhancing data security. In contrast, Bitcoin ordinals use a system that operates on a single signature basis.
Final thoughts
The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol provides a method for incorporating digital artworks into the Bitcoin blockchain, ensuring their integrity and immutability. Unlike Bitcoin Ordinals, which are limited by block size and single-signature transactions, Bitcoin Stamps offer greater flexibility in data size and security through a multi-signature framework.