BRC 2.0 Upgrade Sparks New Round of Attention in the Bitcoin Ecosystem

Recently, the BRC 2.0 upgrade is about to arrive, and related assets have sparked heated discussions in the market, with some investors once again turning their attention to the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the past month, the transaction price of the representative NFT project Adderrels from the BRC 2.0 series has skyrocketed from about $15 to around $2300, achieving over 100 times return on investment.

BRC 2.0 is not a brand new protocol, but an upgrade to the existing BRC 20 protocol. This upgrade, launched by the core maintainer Best in Slot, aims to introduce EVM-compatible smart contract functionality for BRC 20 tokens, supporting more advanced financial applications. The upgrade has received broad support from the BRC 20 ecosystem.

However, the way BRC 2.0 achieves programmability has sparked some controversy. It employs an off-chain processing solution, integrating the EVM executor with the BRC 20 indexer, with the final state updated by the indexer on the Bitcoin chain. This approach is viewed by some as having a lower degree of decentralization and carries a risk of single points of failure.

In addition to programmability, BRC 2.0 also introduces the "Ordinal Locker" feature, enhancing interoperability with Ordinals. This feature utilizes the Bitcoin time lock mechanism, allowing users to lock Ordinals assets, unlocking more gameplay for BRC 20.

According to the official roadmap, the BRC 2.0 upgrade will be carried out in two phases:

1. Phase One (around August 14): Enable 6-character BRC 20 tokens and launch the launchpad.
2. Phase Two (around September 17): Enable programmability for all BRC 20 tokens

Although the upgrade has not yet been implemented, the market has seen several NFT projects claiming future airdrops of BRC 2.0 tokens, such as Adderrels, LIQUID, and Early Birds. These projects claim to provide token rewards to holders after the upgrade, but investors should exercise caution, as the quality of these conceptual assets varies.

Currently, the Pre-BRC 2.0 concept asset market is mixed, with a low threshold for obtaining whitelists, and investors should participate with caution. With the impending upgrade of BRC 2.0, the Bitcoin ecosystem may usher in a new round of development opportunities, but it also comes with risks and uncertainties.