Fractal Bitcoin managed to mine its first block and officially launched its mainnet after carrying out the last tests in July 2024. As a curious fact, it compressed within this first historical block the message published by Satoshi Nakamoto in the genesis block of the Bitcoin chain. As the company explained, This network will provide less expensive transactions and a block confirmation time of 60 seconds or less.. In addition, it will multiply the data storage size of the blocks by ten compared to the size of the original Bitcoin network. The network is a Bitcoin sidechain, a lateral chain that uses the central code of Bitcoin Core. That is, Fractal Bitcoin takes the technological base of BTC without modifying its consensus proofs (Proof of Work or PoW) and the security of the network, but adding a scalability solution imposed by recursive virtualization technology.
This virtualization involves encapsulating all of the Bitcoin Core software into a standalone software package anchored to the main network. This software is called the Bitcoin Core Software Package (BCSP). Thus, through recursive virtualization, a multi-level structure is created that expands the processing capacity of the Bitcoin network, improving its scalability and efficiency, while maintaining the engineering of the main network. This mechanism, which might sound very similar to the behavior of a second layer (L2) network, although it focuses on improving the scalability of the main network just like an L2, unlike them, Fractal Bitcoin It does so without becoming independent of the original Bitcoin network and without establishing new consensus mechanisms.
Replication of Satoshi's Genesis Message
The company replicated on its sidechain the message posted by Satoshi Nakatomo in the Bitcoin (BTC) genesis block: “Chancellor on the brink of a second bailout for banks.” This message, simulating a newspaper headline, served as a critical commentary on the 2008 US financial crisis and the need for a decentralized alternative like Bitcoin.
Fractal launched its mainnet based on the Bitcoin core code. Source: X. The term “Fractal” comes from the word commonly used in subjects such as mathematics or geometry, where it is used to indicate a fragmented structure that is repeated at different scales and sizes. This pattern is what Fractal Bitcoin replicates. Its structure gives the system the possibility of expanding into new layers to distribute transaction loads and avoid network congestion. This is how the scalability of the original Bitcoin network would be increased, according to the company itself, to unlimited levels. Ultimately, Fractal Bitcoin natively supports several protocols associated with Bitcoin, such as BRC-20, Runes, Ordinals, among others. In addition, it will have a decentralized exchange on its main network, called PizzaSwap.
Fractal Bitcoin establishes a merged mining mechanism
This system imposed by Fractal is called “Cadence Mining” and proposes the combination of two different methods to ensure network security and efficiency.
On the one hand, it adds permissionless mining, meaning that any user can participate in mining on the Fractal network without the need for special authorization. On the other hand, it also employs merged mining with Bitcoin, allowing miners to work on both networks simultaneously. In this way, this sidechain will try to maintain the security of the main Bitcoin network, which would benefit both miners and Fractal Bitcoin users.