This week, the RGB protocol, which allows to issue tokens and smart contracts on Bitcoin through the Lightning Network, had several important launches demonstrating the enormous progress that this interesting project has achieved.
On Monday, March 15, the first version of Bitcoin Pro was launched, a tool to issue tokens in the RGB protocol. On the other hand, last Thursday, March 18, the explorer of this protocol was also launched, called RGBex .
Both tools were presented by the Dr. Maxim Orlovsky , main developer of this protocol proposed 3 years ago by the developer Giacomo Zucco.
As you can read in his code repository. , Bitcoin Pro is an «account manager and smart contracts», an application that, they clarify, «is not a wallet«, as it does not need to access private keys nor does it create no type of signature.
What Bitcoin Pro does is the creation and export of Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions ( PSBT , in English) , so these must be published on the main Bitcoin network, its blockchain, outside the application.
Although the application can be used for several purposes, its main use case would be the management of RGB-20 tokens, the native tabs of this protocol. In this sense, can be created, issued, renamed, burned and replaced fungible tokens of this standard.
At the moment, It is not yet possible to issue non-fungible tokens (NFT), but it is a feature that is planned to be implemented, as read. Notably, Bitcoin Pro v. 0.1 is the first version of this software, so its developers advise to use it at your own risk, preferably on the testnet or testnet of Bitcoin.
In the image, the RGB-20 fungible asset creation window of the Bitcoin Pro software. Source: Maxim Orlovsky, developer of RGB.
RGBex, the RGB protocol browser
RGBex is not a block explorer, does not browse the Bitcoin blockchain. RGBex is an index or list of fungible and non-fungible assets (NFT) that are broadcast in the RGB protocol. On the other hand, in Bitcoin Pro it is planned to integrate a block explorer as the most conventional ones.
Anyone can upload the genesis of an RGB-20 (fungible) and RGB-21 (non-fungible) token using a SECP256k1 Bitcoin key. It can be optionally signed and loaded with metadata, such as the issuer’s name and their website. The asset could then be unlisted by the creator using a signature generated from the same key created to list the token.
RGBex
In an online presentation to update the public on the progress of the RGB project, Maxim Orlovsky showed the explorer. In RGBex you can see the characteristics of a specific RGB-20 token, such as the address of the issuer, the procedure that was done (create, issue, rename, burn or replace) , as well as the total distribution (number of tokens issued), among others. Orlovsky pointed out that the details on the smart contracts that issue these tokens can also be reviewed later.
The idea is that the token creators can coordinate the reading of this register with the Bitcoin Pro applications and with the wallet MyCitadel , which we recently reported on CriptoNoticias.
This week’s broadcasts can be reviewed on the LNP / BP Standards Association channel, while slides exposed by Dr. Orlovsky were published on GitHub.
During the presentation, Dr. Orlovksy made his arguments why RGB would differ from Ethereum, which we will explain in detail in another upcoming note to be published, but that makes clear the intentions and approach of a project that promises to rethink the concept of smart contract and make it a reality in Bitcoin.
It also announced that they have open vacancies for hire Android developers, to work the MyCitadel wallet. They are also looking for rust language programmers to work on various projects related to Lightning, NFT and other areas of the LNP / BP organization.
