Author: Christian Moss 2021-12-06 16:35:19
Published on: 2021-12-06T16:35:19+00:00
A discussion on the usage of OP_RETURN for creating and trading NFTs on Bitcoin led to questions about the possibility of using this opcode via Lightning. The idea was to explore if OP_RETURN could be inside a channel's opening or closing transaction and if it could change hands within that channel or network of channels. It was noted that OP_RETURNs do not have ownership according to the bitcoin network, but it is possible to define a protocol that associates an OP_RETURN with ownership, which could then be transferred via lightning by sending associated currency. The discussion also touched on the possibility of making OP_RETURN divisible and sending a piece of OP_RETURN just like one can do on the primary ledger. It was noted that OP_RETURNs themselves do not have ownership, but a protocol that gives them divisible ownership, including via lightning, could be defined. However, it was assumed that this would need a protocol layer parallel to Bitcoin/Lightning that stores and reads all Bitcoin transactions and the ones involving the node's channels as well as the ones with the OP_RETURN. One participant recommended researching RGB, which does not scale NFTs as each transaction to transfer ownership of an NFT would require an on-chain transaction. The participants in the discussion were from the bitcoin-dev and lightning-dev mailing lists.
Updated on: 2023-06-15T03:19:47.105115+00:00