BRC-20 (4-byte)

• GitBook - brc-20

The BRC-20 token standard: is an experimental fungible token created using Ordinals and Inscriptions and saved on the bitcoin base chain. It utilises Ordinal inscriptions of JSON data to deploy token contracts, mint tokens, and transfer tokens.

This is not a token standard like you’re used to with EVM chains, which create smart contracts that manage the token standard and its various rules, but simply is a way to store a script file in bitcoin and use that file as a way to attribute tokens to satoshis and then allow them to move from one user to another.

The BRC-20 token was created by Twitter user @domodata on March 8th, 2023. The name is a play on Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard, but they don’t have the ability to interact with smart contracts like the EVM standard it derivates its name from.

BRC-20 tokens are not EVM-compatible and do not support smart contracts, which limits the ecosystem and adoption but provides top-notch security through Bitcoin's PoW mechanism.