Stamps is a blockchain protocol created by MikeInSpace that enables storing images on-chain on Bitcoin transaction outputs. It utilizes the Counterparty platform, a long-standing Bitcoin meta layer, to broadcast Stamping transactions to the Bitcoin Network. The protocol enables the creation of Bitcoin NFTs, especially low-resolution pixel art.
Over time, as experimental token use cases gained popularity in the Ordinals ecosystem, the Stamps community also began to explore other token use cases.
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The month of May saw the total number of Stamps crossing the 50,000 mark, a feat accelerated by the excitement around the newly introduced SRC-20 Token Specification. Currently, there are 63,883 Stamps in circulation, with 68% of them being SRC-20 Stamps.
During the latter part of the month, SRC-20 Stamps have become the main driver of the mints. As a result, there has been a shift from PNG format to SVG format for Stamps categorized by MIME type. The dominance of PNGs has decreased.
Over time, the data clearly indicates two distinct spikes in minting. The first spike occurred during the early days, driven by the popularity of Bitcoin NFTs. The excitement surrounding SRC-20, a highly experimental exercise, led to the second spike.
At the time of writing, there were 3,803 blocks that contained data on various transactions involving Stamps.
The percentage of blocks with less than 10 Stamps slightly decreased from 67% (per our previous report) to 64%. On the other hand, blocks with more than 100 Stamps increased from 1.1% to 3%. Block number 790,249 had the highest number of Stamps, with 464 Stamps in it.
Since the Key Burn functionality was introduced, most creators have chosen to use it. Notably, 70% of all stamps have utilized the key burn option.
A recent proposal in the Counterparty community proposes introducing an Asset Issuance Fee to fight spam and reduce the cost of running nodes and infrastructure. The proposal suggests a fee of 0.10 XCP for registering numeric assets (i.e., Bitcoin Stamps, which did not have an XCP fee so far). This appears to be an attempt to suppress SRC-20 proliferation. However, these measures can inevitably impact the original use case for Bitcoin Stamps.
It has been observed that the community is experimenting with different use cases to deal with shortcomings like minting costs. One such attempt is to mint higher resolution Stamps using a proposed SRC-721 NFT Collection Specification. However, it's uncertain whether these efforts will be popular among users and become a widely-used solution.
On June 2, 2023, the wallet address (bc1qe5sz3mt4a3e57n8e39pprval4qe0xdrkzew203) for the Stamps Development Fund received around 0.45976876 BTC, which is equivalent to approximately USD 13,030.67 in contributions. This shows an increase of 96% over the past month. As of today, the wallet currently holds approximately 0.35770171 BTC, which is equivalent to USD 9,694.79.
In conclusion, the Stamps Protocol has experienced significant growth and developments in May 2023, with the introduction of the SRC-20 Token Specification driving notable changes in the ecosystem. As the community keeps pushing the boundaries by exploring inventive use cases and solutions, the future impact on the Stamps Protocol remains to be seen.
The protocol's continuous advancement and adoption may also rely on supporting infrastructure. Additionally, establishing sustainable use cases beyond mere hype will contribute significantly to long-term activity.
Conversely, the growing popularity of Stamps may face challenges due to potential resistance from the Bitcoin or Counterparty community. The development and adoption of Stamps should be mindful of these headwinds in order to maintain its momentum and bring long-term success to the project.
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