What Are Bitcoin Stamps?

Key Takeaways

The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol embeds images into the Bitcoin blockchain, enabling the integrity and immutability of digital art.

Compared to Bitcoin Ordinals, the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol offers a safer approach to data storage and allow for more flexibility.

This article explores what Bitcoin Stamps are, how they work, and some of the ways they differ from Bitcoin Ordinals.

Introduction

Over time, Bitcoin has evolved to support various applications beyond its initial purpose, including embedding additional data within transactions. The Bitcoin STAMPS protocol enables data embedding, building on the capabilities introduced by previous technologies like the Ordinals protocol. In this article, we will explore what Bitcoin Stamps are, how they work, and what makes them different from Bitcoin Ordinals. 

What Are Bitcoin Stamps?

Bitcoin Stamps are digital art generated through the Bitcoin STAMPS protocol. They represent a method for integrating digital art within the Bitcoin blockchain. The protocol encodes data within unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), ensuring its immutability by permanently including it in the blockchain.

How Bitcoin Stamps Work?

A Bitcoin Stamp is created by turning a piece of digital art into a base64 string. The string is added to a Bitcoin transaction, marked with a "STAMP:" prefix. This data is spread out over several outputs using multi-signature transactions. This approach ensures that digital artwork will be permanently recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain.  

Each Bitcoin Stamp gets a special number that's based on when the transaction happened, making it easier to keep them in order. For a Stamp to be officially recognized, it must meet certain rules, like being part of the first transaction that includes a valid "STAMP:base64" string.

Bitcoin STAMPS Protocol

There are two main protocols used in Bitcoin STAMPS: SRC-20 and SRC-721.

1. SRC-20. The SRC-20 token standard is built on the open Counterparty protocol. It embeds arbitrary data within spendable data transactions – s,#ETHCrossed2500 $BTC