Note: This is not a secondary investment advice, just personal considerations
Is it silent?
When the RGB++ protocol was first launched, the market was very enthusiastic, and many people were discussing the impact of such a new technical protocol. The first use case of the "isomorphic binding" technology proposed by RGB++ combined the BTC network and the CKB network, which also triggered people's new understanding of the CKB network and new expectations for its future development. But after a period of time, as the enthusiasm gradually dissipated, it seemed to fall into silence.
But is it really silent?
Focus your attention
"Attention economy" is a term often mentioned nowadays. All projects in the market are trying to grab users' attention. However, attention is a "short-lived process" in most cases and is easily dispersed and diverted. This is the current state of the market, so most of us just go with the flow and keep chasing "hot spots in the market". A few of us have gained profits, but most of us have gained losses and anxiety.
I have always believed that if you want to pay attention to a certain track/project, you need to track it and adjust your cognition over a long period of time. This cycle does not need to be so exaggerated as to be measured in years, but at least in months. Because technology development, growth, and application take time, it will not appear out of thin air, and it will not even be accelerated because of the number of people. I have been adhering to this concept in my research on every track/project I like, so you will see that it has been almost a year since I preached RGB, but I still keep updating the protocol, ecological projects, etc., and the same is true for RGB++.
The value that sustained attention can generate is often greater because it is based on a deeper understanding of cognition and is rational cognition. The principle is very similar to "focus generates power", even in an industry like crypto that changes extremely quickly and is greatly affected by emotions.
So, why not focus your attention on the recent developments of CKB and RGB++.
In development, the ecological map is being improved
On April 24, I shared the ecological map of NERVOS, and a friend commented: "It looks like a lot, but the only effective part is the part in the lower left corner."
Yes, at that time, some of the parts in the lower left corner were even in the concept stage, some had not yet been developed, and some had just been developed and were not mature. On the one hand, there were historical problems left over from the previous cycle that needed to be remedied; on the other hand, the new protocol had just been established and all industries were waiting to be developed.
Now, two and a half months have passed, let's take a look at what has changed:
RGB++
wallet
Joyid wallet has made many upgrades based on user needs, supporting mnemonics and private key export and more networks
Gate Wallet announces support for RGB++ assets
Unofficial support tools for Unisat and OKX wallets completed
Unisat will most likely support RGB++ assets soon
OKX wallet will likely support RGB++ assets soon
product
LeapX is a layer 1 asset cross-chain based on RGB++
Nervape conducts two rounds of accessories airdrops
World3 issues assets based on RGB++
Cellula issues assets based on RGB++
.BIT is transformed into RGB++ assets to create a universal domain name system
The over-collateralized stablecoin STABLE++ is launched
platform
Huehub platform, Omiga platform, Joyid market platform, and Dobby platform are gradually maturing
UTXOswap Intent-Based Trading Platform is Coming Soon
Metaforo's voting system based on RGB++ assets on the first and second layers is completed
Seal-based pledge platform seal2earn IBO platform launched
Infrastructure
UTXO STACK is progressing rapidly and will soon become an important part of solving the future expansion of CKB and RGB++
"Application of isomorphic binding technology" based on other chains is under development
CKB
Based on the characteristics of CELL, more networks are supported, turning to the category of abstract accounts based on POW
Nostr protocol has been integrated, and related binding technology has been completed
Connected with CCBTC to introduce BTC assets into the ecosystem
Developed Mobit to manage CKB and RGB++ assets in different wallets
Opened CCC, a management tool for developers
CKB-based Lightning Network is about to start testing
Of course, this is only the part I know. As for what is actually being done, there may be more... In fact, I am quite amazed at the speed and progress, but it has not received enough attention in this "market full of various information."
After sorting out this information, I tried to sort out the development path of CKB and RGB++ from the context.
Traits are key
To achieve the goal, we must establish an accurate positioning of ourselves. What is the positioning of CKB and RGB++? To answer this question, we need to go back to the understanding of "CKB and RGB++" and look for their characteristics.
In the market, every project/technology has its own characteristics. For example, BTC’s characteristic is “the most decentralized and the most secure”, ETH’s characteristic is “smart contract”, RGB’s characteristic is “client”, and Lightning Network’s characteristic is “native and payment”. So what are the characteristics of CKB and RGB++?
RGB++: Binding
Many people will emphasize that RGB++ is a BTC layer 1 asset protocol, but in my opinion this is not the main feature. There are many layer 1 assets, such as brc20, runes, atomics... We are not lacking in layer 1 asset protocols. What we lack is the truly innovative part of the technology.
Yes, it is “isomorphic binding”!
In the entire technology of RGB++, "isomorphic binding" is the essence. The "L1/L2 duality description" we see in the market all comes from this technology. It provides a new way of cross-chain assets, allowing assets to flow freely on isomorphic chains in a native way. It is like building bridges between a group of isolated islands. In the past, you could only entrust people with small boats to carry supplies back and forth, but now you can carry supplies across the bridge yourself.
What is a new technology narrative? It may be a new concept/form/implementation process, but it must be new and not available in the market or tried before. Isomorphic binding is such a technology in this round.
CKB：CELL
It is actually difficult to define the characteristics of CKB. It has many labels, such as the Chinese star public chain? POW? Enhanced UTXO? ... Many labels carry some characteristics of CKB. But if I were to choose, I would prefer the characteristics that enable it to go far:
CELL
That’s right, it is a brand new accounting model created by CKB: the CELL model. This is an enhanced UTXO model that combines the programmability of the account model with the scalability and flexibility of the UTXO model. Its level of abstraction reduces restrictions on system and application contract developers, and combined with CKB-VM, it can develop many functions that cannot be realized in the traditional UTXO model.
However, in terms of scalability, EVM and other technologies have already achieved great success. What is so new about this? ! For the account model, it is indeed common, but it is very difficult for the UTXO model. If you pay a little attention to the development of the BTC ecosystem in this round, you will know that in order to achieve scalability, even a small aspect of scalability, it is difficult to do it based on UTXO. Thanks to the characteristics of the early CKB framework, it can have this scalability in the UTXO chain.
Actually, I want to add POW in front of it, but most people don’t have any feeling about the consensus mechanism of the chain. It’s just verification on the chain. However, as you study it in depth, you will find that POW is the “bottom line of value” and the “support of decentralization”. Of course, the market may not care about these. What’s the use of a public chain controlled by a dozen nodes? It’s fine as long as it can be played!
Two lines
Now, we can roughly sort out the two current lines, two related, parallel but not completely subordinate lines.
RGB++ lines: assets, flows, extensions
> For homogeneous binding to play its role, assets are the foundation, so it is necessary to promote different ecological projects to issue RGB++ assets
>For assets to flow, they need to be traded, so various platforms such as the first layer and the second layer are necessary conditions. The realization of the second layer depends on the design of CELL. This is where the lines converge.
>It cannot just be played within a small circle, it needs to be extended to more areas, so it is necessary to associate more layers of assets and more chains. This is why CCBTC, leapX, Fractal, etc. were introduced; extension requires theoretical design and practical development, all of which require money, which is the purpose of the establishment of the "Ecological Fund"
CKB's line: Infrastructure and new scenarios
> To play various assets in the CKB network, infrastructure needs to be completed, both on the product side and on the development tool side
>To solve the CKB occupation problem, UTXO STACK is needed; to solve the payment Tps problem, CKB's lightning network is needed, and new functions should be developed according to actual needs
>To give full play to the expansion characteristics of CELL, it is necessary to find suitable scenarios for expansion. The AA wallet based on CELL script can solve the payment scenario. Combining with nostr can create functional social scenarios. Combining with xudt can create assets that meet the game scenario.
Nostr, a key?
From the user's perspective, we need interesting products, and it is useless to just talk about technology. I seem to see a combination of products in the recent updates.
Nostr is a decentralized, P2P communication protocol. It is simple and beautiful, with a high DIY attribute. However, the products based on Nostr have not received widespread attention. Social protocols such as Prime are only used by some early geeks, and the associated BTC Lightning Network payment method is also relatively complicated.
What if we combine Nostr with CKB Network/RGB++ assets?
Nostr account can be used as CKB AA wallet. You can transfer and pay to other accounts directly through Nostr account. The payment assets can be BTC assets, RGB++ assets, EVM assets, and even SOL assets in the future.
Nostr accounts can directly participate in DAPPs on CKB, such as Mint assets, interactive Defi, and Frame applets similar to the latest blink and Farcaster on SOL.
CKB's upcoming Lightning Network will make payments faster and the overall implementation process simpler. You don't need to bind an additional Lightning account. In addition, CKB's Lightning Network can even run smart contracts to implement some logical controls.
All Event contents on Nostr have the potential to be directly programmed with different types of assets on the CKB network. The Event mechanism and CKB's POW network can effectively ensure the ownership of assets, which will generate many interesting ideas for asset interaction, asset issuance, etc.
Of course, I don’t think that using this logic to create a product that imitates existing social software will achieve great success. It needs to find a more suitable scenario, a scenario that strongly requires “payment” and “message delivery”. This combination of scenarios may be the key to opening up the market.
ambition
I have high expectations for the CKB and RGB++ teams, so I use the word "ambition" to express my expectations for their future, which also includes their vision and plans for the future.
It is not an easy task for a POW chain that has been running for so many years to keep updating and developing new narratives. You can find many counterexamples in this market. It is difficult to maintain the original intention of doing a project.
So, what is the ambition of CKB and RGB++? Maybe:
RGB++ is built into a series of channels, connecting most of the assets on the previous layer and connecting more UTXO chains; at the intersection of the roads is the castle built by CKB, where a wide range of WEB2/WEB3 applications can be widely used, whether it is payment, social, finance, games or others.
