Blockchain technology continues to advance, and Bitcoin, as the earliest and most widely accepted cryptocurrency, still has an important influence around the world.
However, as its network becomes more popular, scalability issues have gradually become prominent, and bottlenecks such as slow transaction confirmation and limited processing capacity have become challenges that need to be urgently addressed. To this end, Fractal Bitcoin was launched by UniSat on September 9, 2024 as an innovative Layer 1 solution designed to address these pain points and provide strong technical support for the future of Bitcoin.
Although Fractal Bitcoin has captured a significant portion of Bitcoin’s computing power within just a few days of its launch, it is still relatively unknown to much of the crypto community.
In this issue, let’s learn about Fractal Bitcoin and its ecological projects.
Fractal Bitcoin
Fractal Bitcoin is a Layer 1 solution designed specifically for expanding the Bitcoin network. Unlike other expansion technologies, Fractal Bitcoin uses a tree-like recursive expansion layer structure (BCSP, i.e., blockchain expansion protocol) to increase the speed and efficiency of Bitcoin transaction processing by adding layers. This architecture can improve network scalability and achieve higher transaction throughput without changing the Bitcoin core protocol.
The biggest advantage of Fractal Bitcoin is that it is fully compatible with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem and does not require large-scale adjustments to the original network. This means that users and developers can continue to use existing tools and equipment without worrying about compatibility issues. At the same time, Fractal Bitcoin supports permissionless mining and merged mining, providing miners with more opportunities to participate and further enhancing the security and decentralization of the network.
To understand Fractal Bitcoin’s innovation, we first need to review the historical context of Bitcoin’s scaling discussions. In 2017, the Segwit soft fork aimed to increase Bitcoin’s block capacity, and the subsequent Bitcoin Cash hard fork provided another expansion solution, although it caused some controversy. By 2018, second-layer solutions such as the Lightning Network were gaining more and more attention. Throughout this process, Fractal Bitcoin currently uses a tree-like recursive structure as a new attempt to propose a different solution to the long-standing problem of Bitcoin scaling.
As the latest step in the exploration, Fractal Bitcoin has performed well after its launch. According to previously given data, in just 24 hours, Fractal Bitcoin's joint mining power has accounted for more than 40% of the total computing power of the Bitcoin network. In addition, the computing power of free mining has also reached 2%, which is even more than three times the total computing power of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). These data show that Fractal Bitcoin has won the recognition of miners.
Since it can be dual-mined, the birth of Fractal Bitcoin has also attracted the participation of many mining pools, including F2Pool, Antpool and Spiderpool. However, although the number of participants in the Fractal Bitcoin mining network is still increasing, the future development direction and expansion potential remain to be examined. And because the early wealth effect has already appeared, in this round of bull market where no one is taking over, if investors want to enter the market, they should remain rational and not be affected by FOMO emotions.
Fractal Bitcoin Core Advantages
Fractal Bitcoin introduces several key technical innovations:
Block time: Fractal Bitcoin reduces block generation time to 30 seconds, which is a significant improvement compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This faster block time can speed up transaction confirmation and greatly improve the user experience. In addition, it significantly increases the overall throughput of the network, giving it greater potential to support more complex and transaction-heavy application scenarios.
Mining mechanism: Fractal Bitcoin uses a unique hybrid mining model. Two out of every three blocks are mined without permission, and the other is mined in conjunction with Bitcoin. This innovative mechanism allows individual miners to freely participate in two-thirds of the blocks, promoting the decentralization of the network. At the same time, through the joint mining of every third block, the security of the network is enhanced by the powerful computing power of Bitcoin. This balanced approach not only ensures security, but also incentivizes Bitcoin miners to participate in supporting the Fractal Bitcoin network.
Scalability: Fractal Bitcoin's tree-like architecture theoretically supports unlimited levels of expansion. Each layer has a 20-fold capacity increase compared to Bitcoin, which means that the capacity of the first layer is 20 times that of Bitcoin, and the second layer is 400 times. Through this exponential expansion model, Fractal Bitcoin can solve the throughput limitation problem of the Bitcoin network while retaining the security of the base layer.
Smart Contract Functionality: By introducing the OP CAT opcode, Fractal Bitcoin implements Turing-complete smart contracts on the Bitcoin platform. A simple connection operation on OP CAT, combined with other opcodes, can build replicated smart contract logic. This makes advanced DeFi protocols, complex NFT mechanisms, and decentralized applications that were previously limited to the Ethereum platform possible.
Parallel execution: Fractal Bitcoin’s architecture allows different applications to run their own instances so that specific optimizations do not affect the entire network. For example, a gaming platform can run on a Fractal layer optimized for high-frequency, low-value transactions, while a DeFi protocol can handle financial operations on a separate layer with fine-tuned parameters.
Compatibility: Fractal Bitcoin fully supports Bitcoin standards (such as BRC-20 and Ordinals), ensuring that existing Bitcoin tokens and NFTs work seamlessly. In addition, users can use the same address between the Bitcoin mainnet and Fractal Bitcoin, simplifying the user experience and reducing the risk of address management errors.
In short, Fractal Bitcoin is a forked version based on Bitcoin Core v24.0.1, which can be regarded as a small Bitcoin chain with adjusted parameters. Its main differences include block time, difficulty adjustment mechanism, total token amount (the total token amount set by Fractal Bitcoin is 210 million), initial block reward, halving cycle, and activation of OP CAT operation code.
But experienced investors should know that they should not have too much faith in technology at the moment. After all, none of the forked coins had good results.
Fractal Bitcoin Economic Model
The token symbol of Fractal Bitcoin is FB. The total supply of FB tokens is 210 million, which are distributed as follows:
Proof of Work (PoW) mining 50%, ecosystem treasury 15%, community grants 10%, pre-sale 5%, consultants 5%, core contributors 15%. Among them, the allocation limit of the ecosystem treasury and community grants is 10% of the total annual allocation, and the allocation period is 10 years; the allocation limit of consultants is 20% of the total annual allocation, and the allocation period is 5 years.
This distribution approach is designed to provide long-term support and sustainability for the Fractal ecosystem.
Fractal Bitcoin Background
According to Rootdata, Fractal Bitcoin was developed by the Unisat team. UniSat has received multiple rounds of financing, including from Binance and OKX Ventures. Fractal Bitcoin was jointly launched by the UniSat team, BSF, Uniworlds and Asset Bridge, and cooperated with Binance Labs, the incubator of Binance.
UniSat: As a leading Bitcoin wallet, UniSat has over 900,000 weekly active users. The team has extensive experience in cryptocurrency application interface design, implementation and support of Bitcoin standards such as BRC-20 and Ordinals, and secure management of high-value digital assets. Their involvement not only adds credibility to the project, but also provides a broad potential base for early users.
Block Space Force: Its co-founders have successfully built and scaled multiple world-class projects such as Coinbase, CoinMarketCap, and Cobo. With decades of experience, they have demonstrated deep expertise in developing blockchain projects from concept to mass adoption, addressing regulatory challenges in the cryptocurrency space, and managing investor relations. Their achievements in USD A9 exits and 100x investment projects further demonstrate their capabilities.
Fractal Bitcoin Ecosystem Project
1、Cat Protocol
According to the official introduction of the Protocol CAT project, CAT Protocol is a new UTXO-based Bitcoin token protocol called Covenant Attested Token (CAT). The protocol is verified by miners and uses smart contracts to manage the minting and transfer of tokens. Its main features include:
No Indexer Required: The rules of the token are guaranteed by the Bitcoin consensus mechanism, and all data and logic are run on the chain, without relying on third parties off the chain (such as indexers). It inherits the native proof-of-work security of Bitcoin.
Modularity: CAT tokens can be used to build other smart contracts to support more complex decentralized applications (such as AMM, lending, staking, etc.). This provides a powerful new tool for expanding the scope of Bitcoin.
Programmable minting: Token minting rules are executed by smart contracts, and any minting transactions that exceed the regulations will be directly rejected by the network.
Cross-chain interoperability: The CAT protocol supports trustless asset bridging between different blockchains, enabling applications to run on multiple blockchains.
SPV Compatible: CAT tokens support Simplified Payment Verification (SPV), and light clients can independently verify the authenticity of tokens without relying on a central server.
The CAT protocol supports both fungible tokens (CAT-20 standard) and non-fungible tokens (CAT-721 standard). Currently, CAT-721 has not yet been launched.
As of the time of writing, the popularity of CAT20 tokens continues unabated, and the current minting progress is 74%. Everyone is rushing to CAT. However, it should be noted that the CAT Protocol code has traces of Chinese development, and the project owner is anonymous, so the specific information of the team members has not yet been tracked.
2、Pizza Swap
Pizza Swap is a decentralized trading service on the UniSat platform, running on the Fractal Testnet. It allows users to easily exchange, deposit and manage assets.
3、Uni Worlds
Uni Worlds positions itself as the gaming infrastructure in the Bitcoin ecosystem. It is the first project built on Fractal Bitcoin and is fully supported by UniSat. Currently, there are two assets issued: Uni Worlds Genesis Series and Uni Worlds: Key Of Destiny Series. Holders of keys can mine FBTC.
Uni Worlds uses fractal Bitcoin technology, which may refer to the layering or sharding technology implemented on the Bitcoin network to increase the scalability and functionality of the network.
The team is headquartered in Singapore and focuses on the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, while actively deploying multiple Web3 fields including second-layer solutions (L2), DeFi, GameFi, AI and Metaverse.
4、Satspump.fun
Satspump.fun is positioned as a Bitcoin Meme coin issuance platform, providing users with a new place full of fun and creativity. Here, users can easily issue Meme coins on Fractal Bitcoin and give full play to their creativity and imagination. The platform is characterized by its principle of fair issuance: there is no pre-sale and no team reserve. This mechanism is designed to allow users to experience token issuance and trading similar to Solana and other EVM chains. Its fairness and openness have attracted many users to participate, bringing new vitality to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
5、Infinity AI
lnfinityAI is an AIGC platform in the Fractal Bitcoin ecosystem, providing users with a new creative experience and unlimited possibilities. Similar to traditional AIGC platforms, users can generate new images and NFTs by inputting text or picture prompts. This innovative feature not only meets the creative needs of users, but also brings more artistic and creative elements to the Fractal Bitcoin ecosystem.
Summarize
As a new type of Bitcoin expansion solution, Fractal Bitcoin has indeed provided new imagination and traffic for the Bitcoin ecosystem. It has proposed a tree-like recursive expansion layer structure to address the problem of network expansion, which improves the expansion of the Bitcoin network and the throughput of the network without the need for a permissioned mining mechanism. At a time when the market is in a short-term bear market, it has brought economic benefits to miners and thus improved the security and decentralization of the network.
However, as a forked network of Bitcoin, based on past experience, the long-term benefits remain to be examined, and the short-term economic benefits have already been divided up, so investors still need to consider carefully when choosing whether to join Fractal Bitcoin.
However, it is not ruled out that subsequent projects will pave the way for Fractal Bitcoin to rise, because there may still be good projects incubated in the subsequent ecology to consolidate and increase the price of Fractal Bitcoin. All this depends on how the entire Ponzi scheme of the project party will proceed. Let us wait and see.
