The NFT space is changing, but not in the overt ways those on the blockchain have become accustomed to. Instead of PFPs, open editions, and memecoins leading the attack into a new market stage, innovation is now happening through token-level iteration.
While expansion and evolution over time is a given for the many new technologies being built into Web3, new developments often fly under the radar until they’re ready to make a real impact. But a slew of new token standards seems poised to change that. Here are the ones you should know.
ERC-6551
ERC-6551 is a new type of token standard first proposed in February 2023 that gives each ERC-721 token a smart contract account. These “token-bound accounts,” as they are called, allow ERC-721 tokens (a standard of the NFT space) to own assets and interact with applications without requiring any changes to existing ERC-721 smart contracts or infrastructure .
7️⃣ You can make NFTs more non-fungible.
The first real example is Sapienz’s @jeffstaple.
You can add several of Jeff’s NFTs to Sapienz’s wallet and they will be converted into different wearables and wallpapers.
The functionality is already working @open sea. 👏 pic.twitter.com/EGwhkzJEBu
— beast.eth (@beast_eth) May 31, 2023
Why ERC-6551?
most ERC-721 are static and not much use
users can now interact with dApps
instead of tracing the history of a wallet, you can now track the history of an NFT
— amp bura (🌸, 🌿) mynameisamp.lens (@ampbura) June 1, 2023
Similar to how Coral’s Backpack wallet allows an xNFT to function as an app, ERC-6551 essentially turns an NFT yourself in something that looks like a backpack. Think of it as taking your PFP NFT and creating an account for it. And this account can do things like collect tokens and rewards, run processes, and message other accounts, all from the NFT itself rather than the wallet it’s held in.
ERC-721C
Released in its “final” form in May 2023, ERC-721C is a new type of token standard created to make on-chain royalties effectively enforceable. Unlike ERC-721 and ERC1155 – the most commonly created and traded type of NFTs – this new standard makes royalties programmable, allowing creators to block free exchanges once and for all to platform their works.
This new standard was created by blockchain gaming company Limit break to empower creators to set new rules for their on-chain royalties. Essentially, ERC-721C enables the creation of a new type of customizable royalty contract that allows creators to choose where their NFTs are sold and filter interactions from only the contracts and applications of their choice.
BRC-721E
Introduced in May 2023, BRC-721E is a new standard created to allow traders to convert Ethereum-based NFTs into Bitcoin NFTs. Created as a collaboration between Ordinals Market And Bitcoin Miladysthis simple protocol ERC-721 enables NFTs to migrate to Bitcoin individually without a developer having to pre-register an entire collection.
Time for a brand new protocol.
👉 Permission-free bridging from ETH to BTC
👉 Immediately listed on marketplaces after registration
👉 Cost effective for large collections
👉 From the heads of @OrdinalsMarket_ And @BitcoinMiladysIntroducing BRC-721E 🥝🧵 pic.twitter.com/J50MagEVi3
— kiwidream.eth (@kiwi_dream) May 29, 2023
The standard works by encoding data directly into a burn transaction, meaning that when a user creates a BRC-721E, it in turn destroys the NFT of origin to receive a new Ordinals Inscription. The process also works for airdrops, and collections that bridge from ETH to BTC using BRC-721E are automatically listed on Ordinals Market.
BRC-20
The Bitcoin Request for Comment 20 Token, commonly known as BRC-20, is a token standard created in March 2023 by an anonymous developer named Domo. BRC-20 is very similar to ERC-20, the Ethereum-based standard for fungible tokens. Still, BRC-20 is unique in the way it works to give Bitcoin more advanced NFT functionality.
Essentially, BRC-20 is an experimental token standard that makes it possible replaceable tokens are minted and traded through the Ordinals protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain. Notably, BRC-20 does not use smart contracts like other popular NFT standards, but rather lets users store a script file on Bitcoin, using Ordinals to write JSON data to Satoshi (sats) – Bitcoin’s atomic unit.
SRC-20
SRC-20, also known as STAMPS (Secure Tradeable Art Maintained Securely), is a new standard for Bitcoin created in May 2023 by Stamp chain. It is developed from BRC-20, with the significant difference that although BRC-20 transactions are stored in witness dataSRC-20 transactions are stored in disposable data.
For the longest time, tokens on the bitcoin network required excessive effort because there was no proper way to create them.
But this recent development continues @Stampchain is a nice upgrade.
And as more people build on bitcoin, we will see better infrastructure!
6/8
Coin your own token:
— Demetsh (@0xdemetsh) May 14, 2023
Essentially, this means that it is theoretically possible for BRC-20 tokens and data to be removed from Bitcoin. But the same is not true for SRC-20, which gives this particular standard an extra layer of decentralization. STAMPS was inspired by and uses the counterparty coin protocol, which was used to launch the historic and coveted Rare Pepes collection.