Fractal Bitcoin: Comprehensive Research Report

Summary

Fractal Bitcoin was launched on September 9, 2024, and is an innovative Bitcoin scaling solution. It adopts a unique hybrid mining model, combining merged mining and permissionless mining, providing a new perspective for PoW. As a pilot network for Bitcoin, Fractal offers developers a realistic testing environment and opens up numerous experimental possibilities with the activation of OP_CAT.

Fractal has attracted the most active Bitcoin users from the beginning through its collaboration with OKX and UniSat, avoiding the common "cold start" problem that new platforms face. It maintains a pragmatic community-driven strategy, focusing on organic growth and engagement.

In addition, Fractal has successfully integrated key players in the Bitcoin ecosystem, including the BRC-20, Ordinals, and Runes communities, putting it ahead of the current Bitcoin trends.

1. Introduction

Fractal Bitcoin is the only Bitcoin scaling solution that recursively extends infinite layers using the Bitcoin core code. It is built on the world's most secure and widely held blockchain, providing a new perspective for the long-term scalability discussion of Bitcoin.

Fractal's mainnet officially launched on September 9, 2024, achieving significant success. Within 24 hours of the launch, its joint mining accounted for over 40% of Bitcoin's total hash rate, while free mining accounted for 2%. Large mining pools such as F2Pool, Antpool, and Spiderpool have joined Fractal's mining ecosystem, demonstrating the industry's confidence in the project.

2. Core Concepts and Technologies

2.1 Native Bitcoin Expansion

Fractal, as a native extension of Bitcoin, utilizes the existing codebase and modifies block production parameters, maintaining full compatibility with the Bitcoin mainnet. This approach strikes a balance between innovation and upholding the fundamental principles of Bitcoin.

2.2 Technical Specifications

Fractal introduces several key technological innovations:

• Block time: 30 seconds, significantly improving transaction confirmation speed and network throughput.
• Mixed mining mechanism: In every three blocks, two are permissionless mining, and one is joint mining with Bitcoin.
• Scalability: Theoretically supports an infinite number of layers of improvements, with each layer providing a 20-fold capacity increase compared to the Bitcoin mainnet.
• Smart contract functionality: Achieve Turing-complete smart contracts through OP_CAT.
• Parallel execution: Allows different applications to run independently optimized instances.
• Compatibility: 100% compatible with Bitcoin standard ( such as BRC-20 and Ordinals).

2.3 Unique User Experience

The wallet address on Fractal is exactly the same as the mainnet address, and users only need to switch networks in supported wallets to access different layers. Currently, major wallets such as OKX Wallet and UniSat Wallet fully support Fractal Bitcoin.

3. The Position of Fractal in the Bitcoin Ecosystem

Comparison of 3.1 with Other Bitcoin Solutions

Compared to EVM-compatible Layer 2, Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) and the Lightning Network, Fractal adopts a more native approach to Bitcoin, providing comprehensive smart contract support and simplifying the user experience.

3.2 Market Strategy and Built-in User Base

Fractal relies on the support of UniSat, boasting a built-in user base of around 1 million weekly active users. This gives it a significant advantage in overcoming the "cold start" problem. Furthermore, Fractal plans to use transaction volume as a core metric, rather than total locked value (TVL), to demonstrate real usage and adoption.

4. Ecosystem Development

4.1 Decentralization Concept

The core of the Fractal ecosystem construction is the commitment to decentralization, reflected in diversified cross-chain bridge solutions, an open development environment, community-driven governance, and distributed infrastructure.

4.2 Start Users and Developers

Fractal has implemented a series of strategic plans to attract users and developers, including a user rewards program, collaboration with the OKX wallet, and incentives for developers.

4.3 Funding Programs and Project Evaluation

Fractal adopts a retrospective funding approach, rewarding based on the actual impact of the project. Assessment criteria include contributions to the ecosystem, technological innovation, alignment with Fractal principles, and potential for long-term impact.

4.4 Outstanding Funding Projects

Key supported projects include sCrypt, F2Pool, Nubit, DeTrading, UniWorlds, and FractalEcosystem.io, among others.

4.5 Future Outlook

Fractal plans to expand its funding program, deepen community engagement, and support a wide range of application development, including advanced DeFi protocols, enhanced NFT functionalities, enterprise solutions, and decentralized identity systems.

5. Token Economics and Economic Models

5.1 Token Details

• Name: FB( Fractal Bitcoin )
• Maximum supply: 210 million coins
• Total Supply: 105,153,225.00000000
• Circulating Supply: 1,213,225.00061300
• Main use: Transaction fees ( within the Fractal ecosystem )

5.2 Token Allocation

• Proof of Work mining(50%)
• Ecosystem Reserve Fund (15%)
• Community Rewards (10%)
• Pre-sale (5%)
• Advisor Pool (5%)
• Core Contributor (15%)

5.3 Release and Lock-up Period

Different categories of tokens have varying lock-up periods and release plans to ensure long-term commitment and align interests.

5.4 Transparency and OP_CAT Governance Voting Mechanism

Fractal has announced the official addresses for each token allocation category and plans to adopt an innovative governance voting mechanism based on OP_CAT.

6. Team and Partners

6.1 Core Contributors

Including the co-founders of the UniSat team and Block Space Force, who have extensive experience in the cryptocurrency field.

6.2 Developer Platform Partnership

Fractal has the support of the Scrypt team to jointly develop advanced smart contract standards.

7. Challenges and Risks

The main challenges include:

• Programmability: Using Bitcoin scripts may pose challenges for developers.
• Technical risks: Modifying Bitcoin core parameters and implementing new features pose potential risks.
• Adoption Risk: Convincing users and developers to switch from existing solutions to Fractal may be challenging.

8. Conclusion

Fractal Bitcoin showcases an innovative approach to extending Bitcoin's functionality, with advantages such as native Bitcoin integration, technological innovation, a built-in user base, and strong ecosystem development. Despite facing some challenges, Fractal's unique positioning and early successes demonstrate significant potential that could reshape the utility and adoption landscape of Bitcoin.

Investors and users should weigh the potential and risks of the project, closely monitor its technological development, ecosystem growth, and market adoption. Fractal Bitcoin represents a bold attempt in the field of Bitcoin scaling, and its success could have a profound impact on the entire blockchain ecosystem.