Lightning Labs launches updated protocol to help solve Bitcoin’s BRC-20 issues

Lightning Labs has released an updated version of the Taproot Assets Protocol, which provides Bitcoin users with a potentially more efficient method to create new assets on the blockchain.

Lightning Labs launches updated protocol to help solve Bitcoin’s BRC-20 issues

In a recent development, Lightning Labs, the renowned Lightning Network infrastructure firm, has unveiled an updated edition of the Taproot Assets Protocol. This release brings potential benefits to Bitcoin users by providing them with a more efficient approach to creating new assets on the blockchain.

Expressing their dissatisfaction with the current asset inscription methods on the Bitcoin blockchain, Lightning Labs criticized the existing protocols as “particularly inefficient” and highlighted the burdensome process of writing asset metadata directly into block space.

To address these issues, the Taproot Assets Protocol aims to operate primarily off-chain to alleviate network congestion, a persistent challenge faced by the Bitcoin network since the introduction of the BRC-20 token standard by anonymous developer “Domo” on March 8.

Lightning Labs emphasized that Protocol users will soon have the ability to integrate BRC-20 assets into the Lightning Network seamlessly. This integration eliminates the need to establish an entirely new ecosystem from scratch. By leveraging the Taproot Assets Protocol, users can conveniently migrate to the Lightning network, ensuring faster and more cost-effective transactions.

Presently, the majority of BRC-20 tokens rely on Ordinal inscriptions of JSON data for deploying token contracts, minting tokens, and facilitating transfers. This approach has attracted criticism from developers, who argue that it incurs transaction fees that are four times higher than using binary.

Previously known as the “Taro” protocol, the Taproot Assets Protocol underwent rebranding after Lightning Labs encountered a trademark infringement suit from blockchain development firm Tari Labs on December 8. The suit prompted the name change, but it did not hinder the protocol’s progress.

Although the total value of BRC-20 tokens briefly exceeded $1 billion on May 9, it has since declined to $500 million, representing a nearly 50% decrease. Despite this volatility, the updated Taproot Assets Protocol release presents a promising opportunity for Bitcoin users to mint assets more efficiently on the blockchain.

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