Episode notes
In this episode of The Van Wirdum Sjorsnado, hosts Aaron van Wirdum and Sjors Provoost are once again joined by Ruben Somsen. The trio discusses RGB tokens, a Layer Two protocol for Bitcoin to support alternative currency and token schemes (like the currently popular non-fungible tokens, or NFTs).
Aaron, Sjors and Ruben explain that the Bitcoin blockchain has been (ab)used by users to host data since the project’s early days. This was initially done through otherwise-useless transaction outputs, which meant that all Bitcoin users had to store this data locally. A feature called OP_RETURN later limited this burden.They also explain that people have been using the Bitcoin blockchain to host alternative currency and token schemes for a long time.
More resources on RGB Tokens:
Chapters
00:00:00 RGB, NFTs and blockchain data
00:07:36 OP_RETURN and provably unspendable outputs
00:10:10 Rare Pepes, NFTs and digital ownership
00:13:32 Colored coins and real-world assets
00:18:58 RGB commitments and client-side validation
00:25:14 Transferring proofs and backing up token history
00:28:50 RGB tokens in Lightning channels
00:32:22 Routing, atomic swaps and token incentives
00:36:27 Growing and intertwined token histories
00:39:58 Bitcoin fees, security and alternative designs
