Since its deployment on the Bitcoin mainnet in early April, in less than a month, over 300 types of encrypted assets have been issued through the RGB++ protocol. The number of addresses holding the first RGB++ asset, SEAL, has reached 16,850, with a total transaction volume exceeding 180 BTC.
In addition, the ecosystem development of RGB++ has also begun to take shape. Necessary infrastructure such as wallets, browsers, DEX, Launchpad, and asset managers are available.
However, there are still many people who are not familiar enough with the RGB++ protocol and its gameplay, and do not know where to start to participate. Therefore, this article will be divided into three parts today. The first part will introduce the relevant knowledge of the RGB++ protocol in plain and understandable language. The second part will introduce the ecosystem and gameplay of RGB++. The third part will be a FAQ section, hoping to help everyone quickly get started.
Basics of the RGB++ Protocol#
1. What is the RGB++ Protocol? Is it the same as the RGB Protocol? What is the difference from the recently launched Runes Protocol?#
The RGB++ protocol and the RGB protocol are two completely different protocols. The author of the RGB++ protocol is Cipher, who is also a co-founder of CKB, while the RGB protocol is mainly led by Dr. Maxim Orlovsky.
The positioning of RGB++ is a Bitcoin layer one asset issuance protocol, which means that you can use the RGB++ protocol to issue encrypted assets on the most secure and consensus-strong Bitcoin blockchain. After issuing the assets, when you transfer the assets to others, the recipient does not need to run a client for verification. This is because the assets issued through the RGB++ protocol will generate corresponding shadow assets on the CKB blockchain. If we use the analogy of physical body and shadow, transferring RGB++ assets on the Bitcoin blockchain is equivalent to the transfer of the physical body, and the corresponding shadow will also move along with it. The movement of the shadow will be verified by CKB blockchain's PoW miners. Therefore, we can trust that as long as the movement of the shadow is correct, the corresponding transfer of the physical body is also correct (of course, you can choose not to trust CKB miners and verify the transfer of the physical body yourself).
The Runes protocol, like RGB++, is a Bitcoin layer one asset issuance protocol, but there is not much competition at the moment because the market size is small. It is more important for everyone to expand the market together. Currently, Runes lacks programmability. If it cooperates with RGB++, it will bring a win-win effect: RGB++ can bring programmability to Runes, and Runes can bring more attention to RGB++.
2. The Bitcoin blockchain is congested and the fees are too high. What solutions does the RGB++ protocol provide?#
When minting RGB++ assets, transactions are generated on both the Bitcoin blockchain and the CKB blockchain. The transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain is used to shape the physical body of the asset, while the transaction on the CKB blockchain is used to generate the corresponding shadow. Therefore, when minting, users need to spend more BTC fees (because a small portion is used to purchase CKB and generate the corresponding shadow).
After minting the assets, if you find that the Bitcoin blockchain is congested and the fees are too high, you can Leap the physical body of the assets to the CKB blockchain. This way, both the physical body and the shadow will be on the CKB blockchain. The average block time of CKB is about 10 seconds, and the fees are very low. One CKB can normally pay for more than 5,000 transfers. Therefore, RGB++ assets that Leap to the CKB blockchain can enjoy the high speed and high performance of CKB. You can complete thousands or tens of thousands of transfers on CKB before Leaping back to the Bitcoin blockchain.
In addition, the CKB blockchain is Turing complete and can be used to build various DeFi and GameFi applications. This means that RGB++ assets that Leap to the CKB blockchain can also participate in these applications, earn more profits, and achieve a wider range of use cases.
3. What is Leap operation? Is it a cross-chain bridge?#
No, Leap is not a cross-chain bridge. When RGB++ assets Leap from the Bitcoin blockchain to the CKB blockchain or vice versa, no cross-chain bridge or external trust assumption is used.
Common cross-chain bridges involve sending encrypted assets to a multi-signature wallet or contract on one chain and receiving corresponding asset certificates on another chain. The drawback of this approach is that it is more centralized, and users have to trust the operators of the cross-chain bridge not to act maliciously. If a cross-chain bridge is hacked, users' assets may be at risk. For example, in July 2021, the cross-chain asset bridge project ChainSwap was attacked, resulting in a loss of nearly $8 million in assets. In January 2022, Qubit Finance's cross-chain bridge was hacked, resulting in a loss of over $80 million. In February 2022, Wormhole was hacked, resulting in a loss of over $320 million.
Leap is a peer-to-peer transfer of assets from one blockchain to another. It is more secure and decentralized.
Ecosystem and Gameplay of RGB++#
RGB++ Ecosystem#
The RGB++ protocol was deployed on the Bitcoin mainnet in early April and has now achieved the core functions that the protocol should cover, including the issuance and transfer of fungible and non-fungible assets, leap operations, SDK, etc.
The ecosystem development of RGB++ has also begun to take shape:
- Wallets: JoyID, REI Wallet (plugin wallet), etc.
- DEX: HueHub, Omiga, DEX built into JoyID, and an upcoming AMM DEX
- Launchpad: HueHub
- DID: .bit
- DeFi: Stable++ (stablecoin protocol)
- Well-known projects: Nervape, SEAL, etc.
- Others: Haste (RGB++ asset management tool), Metaforo (voting and governance tool that supports RGB++ protocol), etc.
RGB++ Gameplay#
1. How to issue RGB++ assets?
Currently, you can directly use HueHub to issue RGB++ assets.
Open the HueHub website (https://huehub.xyz), connect your wallet (UniSat, OKX, or JoyID), and make sure you have enough BTC in your wallet. Click "Issue a RGB++ token," then fill in the token name, symbol, total supply, quantity to mint each time, and the number of Bitcoin blocks to start minting. After filling in the information, submit and pay the BTC fee. It is very simple and easy to operate.
2. How to mint RGB++ assets issued by others?
If the RGB++ assets issued by others have a dedicated mint website, you can directly open the corresponding website and follow the instructions to complete the minting.
The second method is to open the Fair Mint page of HueHub (https://huehub.xyz/fair-mint), connect your wallet, find the asset you want to mint, and click the mint button next to it to start minting.
3. How to trade RGB++ assets?
If you want to trade RGB++ assets on the Bitcoin layer one, you can directly use the Marketplace on HueHub. To buy, click "Buy Now" in the Market; to sell, choose "List for sale."
If you want to trade RGB++ assets on the Bitcoin layer two (CKB chain), there are currently multiple options. One is to use the DEX built into the JoyID wallet, which can be found in the "Market" section of the wallet. Another option is to use Omiga's Marketplace (https://omiga.io/market). Both of these DEXs operate on an order book model. Community team members are also developing an AMM-based DEX, which is expected to be launched in the near future.
4. How to Leap RGB++ assets from the Bitcoin chain to the CKB chain?
The JoyID wallet already supports the Leap function for RGB++ assets. After logging in to JoyID, switch to the Bitcoin network, then open your RGB++ asset (such as SEAL), select "Bitcoin L2 (CKB)" in the send interface, enter the CKB address and quantity, choose the transaction fee, and finally click "Send" and confirm the signature. Here is a video tutorial: https://x.com/joy_protocol/status/1780505146067448176
It is important to note that to ensure security (to prevent blockchain reorganization), the entire Leap process takes about 1 hour. After completing the Leap, the RGB++ assets will be on the CKB blockchain, and you can trade them using the DEX built into the JoyID wallet or Omiga's Marketplace.
5. How to Leap RGB++ assets from the CKB chain to the Bitcoin chain?
The current version of the JoyID wallet does not yet support this feature. It will be available in the near future, expected before the end of May.
Also, it is currently not recommended to use tools developed by community members to Leap assets from the CKB chain to the Bitcoin chain. This is because some tools do not follow the RGB++ standard when binding Bitcoin UTXOs. If they bind the assets to UTXOs larger than 1200 satoshis, when users send BTC transactions using the JoyID wallet, the wallet may mistakenly spend these UTXOs as transaction fees or regular UTXOs.
FAQ#
1. Why doesn't the transaction appear in the mempool when minting RGB++ assets or transferring BTC?#
One reason is that the node has not completed broadcasting, which is quite common. If this is the case, just wait for a while.
Another reason is that the transaction fee is set too low. Mining nodes prioritize transactions with higher fees. If the fee is too low, after a certain period of time, such as three days, if it has not been included, mining nodes will generally remove such low-fee transactions from their mempool. When nodes remove your transaction, they do not notify your wallet, and the transaction is not refunded. Your wallet cannot automatically display the balance before sending the transaction. If this is the case, you can only use "transaction acceleration services" provided by some mining pools, which require additional fees.
2. Why are RGB++ assets burned?#
RGB++ assets issued through the protocol are "parasitic" or "bound" to Bitcoin UTXOs, more specifically, they are bound to UTXOs with a size of 546 satoshis. If this UTXO is spent, the corresponding RGB++ assets will also be spent.
How to avoid accidentally spending UTXOs that are bound to RGB++ assets? The JoyID wallet has a threshold. Currently, the threshold is set at 1200 satoshis. UTXOs below this threshold will not be spent as transaction fees or regular BTC transfers. Of course, different wallets may have different thresholds. Therefore, to avoid accidental spending, it is recommended to use the JoyID wallet to store and send/receive RGB++ assets.
As mentioned earlier, it is currently not recommended to use tools developed by community members to Leap assets from the CKB chain to the Bitcoin chain. This is because some tools do not follow the RGB++ standard when binding Bitcoin UTXOs. If they bind the assets to UTXOs larger than 1200 satoshis, when users of the JoyID wallet send BTC transactions, the wallet may mistakenly spend these UTXOs as transaction fees or regular UTXOs.
3. Since the JoyID wallet plays such an important role in the RGB++ ecosystem, how can I improve the security of my wallet?#
The current version of the JoyID wallet does not support mnemonic phrase backup, so to prevent accidental deletion of the wallet or passkey, it is recommended to perform account upgrade. After upgrading, you can associate multiple devices of different brands.
After logging in to the JoyID wallet, go to Settings, select "Security," click the "+" button next to "Trusted Devices," click "Upgrade," and then pay 150 CKB or another amount of other tokens to complete the account upgrade. After the upgrade is completed, click the "+" button next to "Trusted Devices" to add devices of different brands. For example, you can add an Android phone as a backup login device for a JoyID wallet created on an iPhone.
For more information about the JoyID wallet, please read: https://nervina.notion.site/JoyID-FAQ-2fcae5726fee4c298f6e5efdb2d1ed3d