RGB protocol Mainnet launch: Transition from heated discussion to skepticism

After two years of anticipation, the highly-anticipated Bitcoin scaling solution RGB protocol officially launched on the Mainnet at 1 AM on August 7th. To encourage user experience, the development team simultaneously released the test token RGB, available for users to claim through the official website faucet.

Although RGB is just a test coin, its symbolic significance as the first RGB asset on the Bitcoin Mainnet cannot be ignored. In the 24 hours leading up to its launch, the community was filled with tutorials on new token offerings and FOMO sentiment. However, when the RGB protocol was officially unveiled, the sentiment quickly turned to FUD, and the current progress of the token offering is less than 20%. This reversal is worth our in-depth discussion.

RGB protocol introduction

The RGB protocol, as a popular smart contract extension solution in the Bitcoin ecosystem, has had a rather tumultuous development history. From its conception in 2016 to its formal development in 2019, it has undergone several team changes. In 2023, with the increasing market demand for Bitcoin scalability, RGB attracted attention once again. It wasn't until 2024, with the assistance of the Bitlight Labs team, that the development progress truly accelerated, ultimately leading to the launch of the Mainnet.

Core Technology Features

1. One-time sealing: RGB stores smart contracts and transaction data off-chain, utilizing Bitcoin's UTXO model to encapsulate asset information and contract status encrypted within UTXOs, effectively preventing double spending and ensuring ledger security.

2. Client verification: The transfer of RGB assets is conducted through an off-chain independent client, eliminating the need to synchronize and verify transactions across the entire network, enhancing privacy protection.

RGB Token Launch Process

1. Create a Bitlight wallet and transfer a small amount of BTC (0.0003-0.0005).
2. Create RGB UTXO container, it is recommended to create only one at a time.
3. Link your wallet through the Bitlight official website and click Claim to receive RGB tokens.

It is worth noting that you can only claim 50 RGB tokens at a time, and it operates in a locked order mode, requiring you to wait for the previous claim to complete before proceeding to the next operation.

Reasons for the Shift from Heated Discussion to Doubt

1. Distribution speed is too slow: only 50 tokens are distributed each time, and the total amount of 21 million tokens takes about 17.5 hours to be fully distributed, which may lead to a decline in market enthusiasm.

2. Project party fee dispute: Each Claim transaction requires a transfer of about 4 dollars to a fixed address, totaling up to 1.68 million dollars. Although the project party states that these fees will be used for future operations, it has still raised doubts within the community.

3. Valuation concerns: Considering the fees and gas costs, the initial market value may have reached around 2 million dollars, which is not low in the current Bitcoin ecosystem.

Conclusion

The launch of the RGB protocol's Mainnet has attracted widespread attention, drawing not only regulars from the Bitcoin ecosystem but also many users who usually do not pay much attention to this field. Recently, the Bitcoin ecosystem has seen a surge of new protocol startups, with projects like spark, BRC 2.0, rune 2.0, labitu, and others emerging one after another.

However, most projects tend to remain at the conceptual stage or in airdrop activities, with very few truly being implemented. This phenomenon seems to have formed a unique subculture group that gathers outside the mainstream view, united by a common belief and a passion for the intertwining of technology and speculation.

In today's world where Bitcoin is well-known, such a group of individuals who find joy in their ecosystem undoubtedly adds a touch of magic to this field.