Published on: 2023-09-07T16:31:57+00:00
The email is a request for an explanation of how registering non-Bitcoin assets on the Bitcoin blockchain benefits the Bitcoin economy. It mentions the official publication of the Taproot Assets Protocol and the request for BIP numbers. The full set of documents, including the breakdown of the BIPs, can be found on GitHub.The BIPs covered in the email are as follows:- `bip-tap-mssmt`: This BIP describes the MS-SMT data structure used to store assets and various proofs.- `bip-tap`: This BIP describes the Taproot Assets Protocol validation and state transition rules.- `bip-tap-addr`: This BIP describes the address format used to send and receive assets.- `bip-tap-vm`: This BIP describes the initial version of the off-chain TAP VM used to lock and unlock assets.- `bip-tap-vpsbt`: This BIP describes a vPSBT, which is a series of custom types on top of the existing PSBT protocol to facilitate more elaborate asset-related transactions.- `bip-tap-proof-file`: This BIP describes the flat file format used to prove and verify the provenance of an asset.- `bip-tap-universe`: This BIP describes the Universe server construct, which is an off-chain index into TAP data on-chain, used for proof distribution, asset bootstrapping, and asset transaction archiving.Some notable additions/modifications to the BIPs since their initial drafts were published last year include:- Test JSON vectors are now included for each BIP document.- Further specification of the Universe construct for initial verification of assets, distributing asset proofs, and transaction archiving, with a syncing algorithm and standardized REST/gRPC interface.- Development of the asset group key structure, allowing for ongoing issuance and fungibility of disparate assets under the same sub-tree.- New versioning bytes across the protocol for extensibility and upgradability.- Changes to the asset metadata format, now committing to a hash of the serialized metadata and allowing structured data.- Observance of re-org protection for asset proofs and the use of an incremental hash function in the file format.- Specification of the vPSBT protocol, analogous to normal PSBTs for the TAP layer.Significant progress has also been made in the initial implementation of the protocol, with collaboration from wallets, explorers, services, and businesses to test and improve both the protocol and implementation. The team is actively working on the next major release towards the eventual deployment of the protocol on the mainnet.
Updated on: 2023-09-08T01:53:08.736058+00:00