Introduction

In exploring solutions for Bitcoin scalability, Fractal Bitcoin stands out with its unique approach. It not only provides a novel perspective but also significantly enhances transaction processing capacity and speed by recursively creating infinite extension layers on the Bitcoin mainnet. This innovative method is akin to laying countless parallel highways for the Bitcoin network, each dedicated to expanding the potential of its main network.

The team behind Fractal Bitcoin, UniSat, has received investment from top institutions in the Bitcoin ecosystem such as Binance, OKX, and ABCDE, indicating potential future listings on major exchanges.

Multiple mainstream mining pools are participating in Fractal Bitcoin's joint mining, including F2Pool, SpiderPool, and AntPool, with the network's hashrate continually rising. As of September 10, the total network hashrate for joint mining has exceeded 220 EH/s, accounting for about one-third of Bitcoin's total network hashrate. Solo mining hashrate has also surpassed 13 EH/s.

Led by the development of UniSat, a Bitcoin ecosystem OG project, Fractal Bitcoin has natural trust endorsement in the Ordinals ecosystem. Almost every user has used the UniSat wallet, and this trust will attract more users and builders to participate.

Products launched and assets issued by UniSat, such as $SATS and $PIZZA, have previously brought significant profit effects, with the highest single airdrop of $PIZZA reaching $800. Retail investors are thus full of expectations for the potential returns of Fractal Bitcoin.

Introduction to Fractal Bitcoin

What is Fractal Bitcoin?

The core of Fractal Bitcoin lies in its ability to recursively create infinite extension layers on the Bitcoin mainnet using Bitcoin core code. This approach not only improves transaction processing capacity and speed but also maintains full compatibility with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem. Unlike some Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions, Fractal does not compete with the mainnet for attention and liquidity but exists as a solution with unique advantages. For certain features that are difficult to effectively support on the Bitcoin mainnet, Fractal can provide effective alternatives.

Mainnet Launch and Development History

The Fractal Bitcoin mainnet officially launched on September 9. Within less than two days of its launch, the joint mining hashrate exceeded 220 EH/s, making it one of the top 3 PoW public chains in terms of hashrate. Multiple leading mining pools have joined the joint mining hashrate competition, while some hashrate has also joined solo mining, meaning the hashrate invested cannot mine BTC but is solely for obtaining more FB output. Currently, the solo mining hashrate has reached 13 EH/s, indicating that many miners are optimistic about the prospects of Fractal Bitcoin.

Team Information

Fractal Bitcoin is a Bitcoin native extension solution led by Unisat, aimed at enhancing Bitcoin's scalability and functionality. The Unisat team has played a crucial role in this project, and Fractal Bitcoin is considered one of Unisat's important projects.

The Unisat team played a significant role in the inscription boom, with their technology and platform support helping to drive the widespread application of inscriptions. UniSat Wallet is widely popular in the Bitcoin inscription community. Due to the strong reputation the Unisat team has built in the Bitcoin ecosystem, Fractal Bitcoin received widespread attention even during its testnet phase.

Technical Background and Innovation Points

The technical background and innovation points of Fractal Bitcoin are reflected in the following aspects:
Native Compatibility: Fractal is an instantly compatible native extension solution for Bitcoin, requiring no modifications to the Bitcoin mainnet. This means existing wallets, tools, etc., can be used directly.
Efficient Consensus Mechanism: It adopts the same Proof of Work mechanism as Bitcoin, allowing miners to use existing ASIC, GPU, and other devices for mining.
Recursive Extension Structure: By recursively creating infinite extension layers, forming a tree-like structure, each layer can be further extended, significantly improving transaction processing capacity and speed.
Fast Transaction Speed: The block confirmation time of the Fractal network is about 30 seconds, and the transaction processing capacity is 20 times that of the Bitcoin mainnet.
Dynamic Adjustment Capability: Fractal can dynamically adjust the number of extension layers based on network load conditions, ensuring efficient operation without affecting the stability of the mainnet.

Low-cost and Efficient Testing Ground

Fractal can serve as a chain for developers and project teams to experiment. Extended features like OP_CAT can be tried on Fractal. If security is verified and excellent use cases emerge, it may to some extent promote the acceptance of OP_CAT on the Bitcoin mainnet. It's worth noting that Fractal has recently been launched on the Bitcoin testnet Signet and assigned the BIP-420 number, indicating that the Bitcoin ecosystem is seriously considering its upgrade potential.

Technical Architecture

Core Technology

Self-replication and Coordination: Fully virtualizes Bitcoin Core, involving packaging the entire Bitcoin Core into a deployable and runnable blockchain software package, called the Bitcoin Core Software Package (BCSP). This allows multiple BCSPs to coexist on the Bitcoin mainnet, i.e., running multiple Guest OSes on the Host OS, while achieving system-level isolation, flexibility, and reusability.

Source: https://fractal-bitcoin.notion.site/2024-01-Fractal-Bitcoin-v0-0-9-04c62c379d6846c7b6163fcd1fb9d566

Asset Transfer Between Different BCSP Layers: By creating a universal asset transfer interface, direct and consistent transfers can be achieved between different BCSP Layers. If bitcoins on the mainchain can be conditionally locked and unlocked (Discreet Log Contracts), the same control mechanism can be used for assets on different BCSP Layers.

Source: https://fractal-bitcoin.notion.site/2024-01-Fractal-Bitcoin-v0-0-9-04c62c379d6846c7b6163fcd1fb9d566

Increased Available Storage Space: Each Instance also increases the available storage space by 10 times, making Fractal a potential better alternative chain for future inscriptions and on-chain services.

Economics

Mining

Fractal Bitcoin adopts an innovative mining method called Cadence Mining to balance the benefits of merged mining and permissionless mining. This model combines both permissionless mining and merged mining modes, with a cycle of every 3 blocks, where 2 blocks are generated through "permissionless mining" and 1 block through "merged mining."

Permissionless mining allows anyone with suitable tools and hardware to mine Fractal blocks, similar to BTC mining. Merged mining is specifically for BTC miners, allowing miners to simultaneously mine BTC blocks and Fractal blocks without additional computing power.

Source: https://www.fractalbitcoin.io/mining

Token Economics

The Gas token in the Fractal network is $FB. It's worth noting that the total supply of $FB is 210 million, half of which is distributed through Proof of Work (PoW) mining. This mechanism closely integrates Fractal with Bitcoin's security model, helping to maintain network security and ensure reliable block generation.

Ecosystem Development

Although Fractal Bitcoin only launched on September 9, its ecosystem has already taken shape, covering multiple areas.

Infrastructure

UniSat

UniSat is the team leading FB, so they are also strongly supporting FB infrastructure. UniSat has built on their previous inscription products to allow one-click switching to the FB network. Specific products include:

UniSat Wallet: A wallet that can quickly switch between Bitcoin mainnet and Fractal Bitcoin assets.
UniSat Explorer: An explorer that can query both Bitcoin mainnet and Fractal Bitcoin network with one click.
UniSat API: A unified API that can be used for both Bitcoin mainnet and Fractal Bitcoin network.

Source: https://x.com/XYDHLJJ/status/1798422889487822946

sCrypt

The sCrypt platform mainly helps developers develop in familiar languages and then convert to Bitcoin scripts. Through sCrypt, a TypeScript high-level language, they can compile developers' code into Bitcoin scripts, generating assembly-like scripts that can be used as locking scripts when building transactions. This can greatly improve development efficiency for developers who are new to Bitcoin code programming. Additionally, the sCrypt project team is deeply involved in the OP_CAT field, which is also an important driving force for FB's support of OP_CAT.

Cross-chain

As an independent public chain, Fractal has built-in multiple cross-chain solutions, including the use of MPC technology. At the same time, in cooperation with other teams, it provides cross-chain solutions with both centralized and decentralized options, such as atomic swaps, Bool Network, or OP_CAT-based solutions.

BitcoinTerminal

BtcTerminal is a comprehensive platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem, providing real-time market data analysis and trading tools. The platform, previously known as RunesTerminal for rune projects, has recently announced integration with Fractal Bitcoin and will support the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.

NFT

FSIC

FSIC is a project similar to cloud computing power NFT. The team raises funds by selling NFTs, which are used to purchase mining machines to mine Fractal Bitcoin, and regularly distributes earnings to NFT holders.

DeFi

Satspump.fun

This is a Bitcoin version of the meme launch platform, similar to pump.fun on Solana. Users can easily issue meme tokens on Fractal Bitcoin without barriers. Leveraging Fractal Bitcoin's 30-second fast block confirmation time, Satspump.fun can quickly issue Meme coins.

At the same time, similar to the pump.fun mechanism, once the pre-set target of the bonding curve is reached, all liquidity will be migrated to Fractal Swap. To ensure liquidity cannot be removed, Satspump.fun will automatically burn LPs. The project is planned to launch in October and is currently in the testing and auditing phase.

Motoswap

Motoswap is a DEX supported by OP_NET, a recently born Bitcoin layer-one smart contract meta-protocol. On August 12, OP_NET officially stated that they had deployed Motoswap on the Fractal Bitcoin testnet, making Motoswap the first DEX on the Fractal Bitcoin testnet.

Gamefi/Metaverse

uniwords

This is a game infrastructure in the Bitcoin ecosystem and also the first project built on Fractal Bitcoin. Currently, UniWorlds has two core assets: UniWorlds domain names and Destiny Key series NFTs. The domain names were first released in mid-March this year, with the suffix .uniworlds. According to the official description, unlike traditional Bitcoin domain names like .sats and .btc, each uniworlds domain corresponds to a 3D virtual space, and owning a domain means having sovereignty over this 3D space. Minting a domain will airdrop keys.

VNTG ROBOTS

VNTG ROBOTS is a robot battle game with a game style replicating Japan in 1945. The project's first tweet was on April 16 this year, and on August 17, it announced its move into the Fractal Bitcoin ecosystem, becoming the first play-to-earn game project.

nodinoBTC

nodinoBtc is the first Telegram game in the Fractal Bitcoin network ecosystem, with a space game theme, and plans to issue core asset NFTs on the Fractal Bitcoin network. The Fractal Bitcoin official has interacted with the project team, and there might be an official announcement of cooperation in the future. It's currently in its early stages, with only plans to issue NFTs announced.

Risks, Challenges, and Outlook

As an extension solution for Bitcoin, Fractal Bitcoin shows strong potential but also faces many risks and challenges.

Firstly, in terms of scalability, although Fractal has greatly improved transaction processing capacity and speed through recursively creating extension layers, to truly achieve its widespread application, it still needs to solve the stability issue under network load. Moreover, Fractal's efficient operation depends on the continuous participation of miners, and it remains to be seen whether the current growth in computing power can be maintained in the long term.

Secondly, Fractal's compatibility and security need further verification. Although Fractal ensures coordination with the existing ecosystem through native compatibility with the Bitcoin mainnet, there are still potential competition and coordination issues in coexistence with the mainnet and other Layer 2 solutions. At the same time, Fractal's innovative structure may introduce new security vulnerabilities, which requires time and extensive testing to verify its stability and resistance to attacks.

Finally, Fractal's user experience and community acceptance are still key to its development. As an emerging extension solution, Fractal must establish sufficient trust and consensus within the Bitcoin community. Although the UniSat team has strong background support, to attract more developers, miners, and users to participate, deeper promotion and cooperation in technology and market are still needed.

In conclusion, Fractal Bitcoin has demonstrated strong potential as a Bitcoin extension solution, especially in improving transaction speed, processing capacity, and maintaining compatibility with the Bitcoin ecosystem. With the active participation of miners and the rapid development of the ecosystem, Fractal is expected to become an important component of the Bitcoin ecosystem. However, it still faces challenges in scalability, security, and community acceptance, which need to be addressed through technical improvements and extensive consensus building to promote its further development.

Fractal Bitcoin: The Pioneering Network of Bitcoin - Analysis of Technical Innovation and Challenges