What is ARC20?
The Atomic Protocol was introduced at block height 808080 and is the latest layer-one protocol on the blockchain. It was authored by an anonymous individual or a small team of one to two people. The protocol's development stemmed from the limitations encountered with the Ordinals protocol, prompting a full redesign. This led to the creation of asset categories such as Realms, ARC20, and Digital Objects. The Atomic Protocol is built on foundational theories from Namecoin and Colorcoin but has been enhanced to maximize the use of Bitcoin's native UTXO model. Consequently, the protocol is highly compatible with various Bitcoin protocol innovations, including BitVM applications, UTXO-based PSBT SWAP, and future BTC DeFi solutions.
Notably, the Atomic Protocol incorporates innovative features like 'bitworks,' a CPU/GPU-based mining system that allows users to mint tokens based on their computational power. It aims to offer a fairer approach to creating tokens. The 'Realms' domain is intended to serve as the ICANN of Web3, enabling users to operate their own domains for community and token development.
ARC-20, a fungible token standard, is designed to bring colored coins and tokenization to the Bitcoin blockchain. What sets it apart is its use of individual Satoshis to represent ownership units of tokens, ensuring that each token has a minimum value of 1 Satoshi. ARC-20 operates natively on the Bitcoin blockchain, avoiding the need for secondary layers or external services. Tokens can be minted by anyone and transferred to various Bitcoin address types. The standard supports both direct and decentralized minting modes, and it offers a built-in ticker symbol service for globally unique ticker names.
What is $ATOM?
$ATOM in the context of the Atomic Protocol ARC20 is a specific digital token that adheres to the ARC20 fungible token standard. The ARC20 standard allows for the creation and transfer of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, representing digital assets or currencies.
In this context, $ATOM is an example of a fungible token created using the Atomic Protocol ARC20. It's a digital asset that can be minted, transferred, and updated on the Bitcoin blockchain, following the specific rules and standards defined by the ARC20 protocol. These tokens are not related to the Cosmos network's native cryptocurrency $ATOM; they are distinct digital assets created within the Atomic Protocol ARC20 ecosystem on the Bitcoin blockchain.
How to mine $ATOM
ARC-20 introduces Bitwork Mining, a novel proof-of-work mechanism that requires miners to perform energy-intensive calculations to earn tokens. This approach enhances token security and rarity while deterring malicious actors from creating tokens without significant computational resources. ARC-20 stands out as a flexible, secure, and self-evident method for representing fungible assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, catering to various use cases. This CPU-minable $ATOM token can be mined starting from block height 808512 and involves Bitwork proof-of-work. Here's a summarized guide on how to mine $ATOM:
1. Install Node.js and Git: To get started, download and install Node.js version 18.18. Verify the installation by running `node -v`. Also, download and install Git and verify it using `git -v`.
2. Clone the Project: Open your command mode (CMD for Windows or Terminal for Mac), create a working directory (e.g., `atomicals`), and clone the project from GitHub using Git. Install dependencies and Yarn as instructed.
3. Create a Wallet: Use the command `yarn cli wallet-init` to create a wallet. Save the wallet information, and a `wallet.json` file will be generated. Keep it secure.
4. Start Mining: Initiate mining using `yarn cli mint-dft atom`. This command will generate a QR code and display the wallet address for mining.
5. Send BTC to Wallet: Send at least 0.0001246 BTC to the provided wallet address to begin mining. You can send more BTC if desired. The mining program will run automatically after the deposit.
Please note that the project is in its early stages, and you can mine one $ATOM token at a time. If you encounter any errors during execution, you can stop the command and re-execute the mining. This guide provides an overview of how to mine $ATOM using Bitwork proof-of-work on the ARC20 Atomic Protocol. Do also take note the $ATOM token has been fully minted.
However, at the time of writing (2 November 2023), it is still possible to mint NFTs, or Digital Objects as referred to within ARC20, via the satsx.io website. Users will need to download and connect a chrome extension ARC20 wallet, transfer BTC to the wallet, then upload an image with a number as its name, before paying for gas via the connected wallet. Gas fee currently is about 2USD.
Advantages and Risks
Advantages
The mining process can attract many people because native players in the cryptocurrency space still believe in Proof of Work (PoW). The reason ARC20, including the entire Atomicals Protocol, uses this proof of work for mining, is in fact to enable more possibilities in the subsequent application layer. For example, when everyone mines tokens through proof of work, it becomes a matter of who contributes the most work, and they can mine more tokens faster. Subsequently, in the context of platforms like social media, content platforms, gaming platforms, and even NFT platforms, the ability to mine the most valuable and rarest NFTs depends on how much CPU power you contribute. This is a form of PoW, meaning that if you want to obtain the most valuable items or products, you also need to contribute more CPU and computational power. This ranking and gameplay offer more versatility compared to the simple strategy of relying solely on the highest bidder. If you're working on NFT or gaming projects, incorporating this proof of work mining alongside the highest bidder approach can indeed provide significant improvements.
1. It enhances scalability for NFTs and offers greater flexibility and operability for future gaming, social platforms, authentication, and other use cases on the entire Bitcoin network compared to the Ordinals protocol.
2. By introducing proof of work mining alongside traditional auction-based methods, it opens up more imaginative possibilities and gameplay for projects built on Bitcoin, encouraging innovation and creativity.
Risks
1. It is still in the early stage, so it takes more effort to join in the project. As such, users will have some barriers to entry and may miss out on it.
2. There is not much base difference between Atomicals Protocol and Ordinals Protocol. The only difference is that the Atomicals Protocol has more scalability and flexibility. But if Ordinals Protocol goes through some updates and iterations, it may be able to catch up to the advantages of the Atomicals Protocol.
As the project is still in its early stage, if users are able to mine $ATOM and get their hands on the token by only paying minimal gas, the risk for this token is still relatively low.
Price Prediction
While $ATOM does have first-mover advantage within the ARC20 field and is much speculated to be like $ORDI for BRC20, with only minor differences between these two, the price increment is unlikely to follow that of $ORDI. $ATOM is currently valued at $0.38, and users have to buy a minimum of 1000 tokens on the marketplace, which will total up to about 380USD, it is important to take into consideration the current price of BTC as $ATOM uses individual Satoshis to represent ownership units of tokens. Assuming the user does invest into $ATOM, it is unlikely for the token to grow tenfold as the current ecosystem and liquidity for $ATOM is still relatively small. It is also important to note that there is not yet a fixed market price for $ATOM, and listing on CEX or DEX will likely result in a change in twofold increase in price for $ATOM due to an increase in demand.
Conclusion
The current ecosystem and liquidity is relatively small, featuring key players like the @wizzwallet wallet, trading markets, and proxy tools, while the protocol team concentrates on protocol development and the research and development of Realms, fostering high community participation. However, there remain numerous bugs in the current products, and an expanded developer community could propel the Atomic Protocol further into the mainstream. Monitoring the development of ARC20, including the infrastructure progress of UTXO-based ARC20 is crucial, especially given the remarkable hundredfold increase in value that the first token $ATOM has witnessed since its inception.