Three-Body Sophon: The New Cultural Attributes of the Atomics Protocol of the Halal School of Bitcoin Technology (with Casting Tutorial)

2024-01-18 15:08

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Although the Atomicals community is very pure in terms of technology and is known as the "technical halal faction" in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the "physical" attributes of its asset naming are also very prominent.

However, it seems that the Atomicals community has realized that, unlike the widely recognized ordi and sats protocols of Ordinals, they urgently need a meme that can attract attention in a wider circle. Recently, the emergence of the Quark token was precisely an attempt to meet this demand and to increase awareness of Atomicals in a broader range.

As an ARC20 token, Quark's name comes from the quark in physics, which is the basic unit that makes up matter. This name forms an interesting echo with sats (satoshis), the smallest unit that makes up Bitcoin, giving Quark a certain meme attribute. Quark's high initial market value, numerous holding addresses, and strong basic consensus make community members believe that it has the potential to become a meme token in the Atomicals ecosystem that can truly break boundaries and attract widespread attention.

However, the ambition of the Atomicals community goes beyond this. Obviously, relying solely on the "Quark" token is not enough if they want to gain more recognition and influence. Therefore, a new asset called "Sophon" has recently been circulating within the community.

It is reported that the cost of mining a Sophon chip is around 50 dollars in terms of gas, with 42 dollars worth of Bitcoin locked inside. Therefore, the actual cost is around 10 dollars for gas fees.

Three-Body Narrative, The Arrival of the Sophon

Sophon's biggest narrative is the concept of the Three-Body Problem. In Liu Cixin's science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem", Sophon is an extremely advanced technology created by the Three-Body Civilization. Sophons are microcomputers folded from basic particles (such as protons) through high-dimensional folding technology, with extremely high intelligence and computing power. They can operate on macro and micro levels, move at the speed of light in the universe, and achieve real-time communication.

ZhiZi played a very important role in "The Three-Body Problem". They were used by the Three-Body civilization to interfere with and destroy scientific research on Earth, especially basic physics research, because such research could help humans discover and resist the Three-Body civilization. ZhiZi's intervention led to a series of scientific crises and social unrest on Earth, adding complexity and tension to the novel's storyline.

"The Three-Body Problem" has had a huge impact worldwide since its release. It has not only received widespread acclaim in China, but also garnered great attention internationally. "The Three-Body Problem" is the first Asian science fiction novel to win the Hugo Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of science fiction literature. The success of the book has helped to generate greater interest in and attention to Chinese science fiction literature among a wider international readership.

"The Three-Body Problem" is highly praised for its profound philosophical exploration, grand cosmic vision, complex character relationships, and exquisite storytelling. It not only explores conflicts and exchanges between civilizations, but also deeply discusses many themes such as science, technology, politics, and human nature. The influence of the novel is reflected in its stimulation of extensive discussions on important topics such as the future of humanity, space exploration, and scientific ethics. In addition, "The Three-Body Problem" has been adapted into various forms of media works, including the already released TV series, and the upcoming "Three-Body Problem" movie in March, which will further expand the influence and popularity of "The Three-Body Problem". Sophon will also gain a new round of popularity.

「We need sophon back」

Previously, there was also mention of "Sophon" on the Ordinals protocol, but it was not a token, rather a BRC-20 token sniper robot.

The CTO of Taproot Wizards, Rijndael (@rot13maxi), who is also a former AWS chief engineer and Bitcoin developer, created a BRC-20 token sniper robot called "Sophon" in October last year. The robot works by monitoring the blockchain's memory pool (mempool). Once it detects a new BRC-20 token inscription being deployed, it quickly deploys a token with the same name (tink), but sets its supply to 1 and pays a higher gas fee to ensure that it is deployed before others. Since the BRC-20 protocol does not allow token names to be duplicated, this means that the originally planned new token will not be successfully deployed and will be effectively "blocked" by "Sophon".

After the first launch of "Zhi Zi", it effectively reduced the number of new inscriptions by 72% compared to the previous day, which can protect Bitcoin from generating too much "information" to a certain extent. However, when the funds of "Zhi Zi" were exhausted on October 23, the number of new inscriptions of text type surged by 540% the next day, showing the market's rebound effect to this intervention.

Therefore, at that time, raph (@raphjaph), the chief maintainer of the Ordinals protocol, also expressed concern about the behavior of "Zhizi" on social media. This implies that the Bitcoin ecosystem may need similar mechanisms to prevent such attacks.

On the left is a mining machine, and on the right is Liu Cixin's science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem: The Dark Forest".

This also confirms, from another perspective, the influence of the Three-Body culture in foreign communities. Looking back today at Raph's statement "We need sophon back," cleverly confirms the birth of sophon.

Returning to Atomicals, there were some signs of the establishment of the Three-Body Community a month ago. Bitcoin ecosystem KOL Bai Cai said: Three-Body is a domestic science fiction IP, and he personally owns the domain of "Three-Body" and "threebody", which can mint sub-domains and naturally create communities. Although the possibility is relatively small, if Liu Cixin needs it, he will give away this domain.

Does the Bitcoin ecosystem also need a clever economic model?

Atomicals protocol has extraordinary flexibility and simplicity in creating unique digital objects, which is particularly evident in the design differences between ARC-20 and BRC-20 tokens.

Atomicals Protocol is a simple and flexible protocol implemented on a blockchain based on the UTxO (Unspent Transaction Output) model for the creation, transfer, and update of digital objects. In this system, an Atomical can be seen as a mechanism that encapsulates the creation, transmission, and updating of digital objects, and defines the chain of ownership through a series of simple rules. The core concept of Atomicals emphasizes that "without transaction history, it is not your digital object", ensuring that each transaction is properly recorded and tracked.

The core technology adopted by the Atomicals protocol is Colored Coins, and it follows the principle of "1 token = 1 sat". Each ARC-20 token is colored in the form of 1 satoshi, anchoring its value. Therefore, from this perspective, ARC-20 tokens will not be reduced to zero, and the Bitcoin used for coloring will still exist.

This point was also elaborated by Bitcoin ecosystem KOL 0xSea in a tweet. "Compared to BRC-20, playing with ARC-20 tokens is like playing a game of Staking BTC, treating ARC-20 as a savings jar, which is equivalent to buying BTC with multiple call options."

After explaining the basic differences between ARC-20 and BRC-20, let's delve into the cleverness of Sophon's token economic model.

For the sake of convenience in explanation, it is necessary to make a comparison with Quark here. The author does not intend to praise or criticize either one.

Compared with Quark, Sophon maintains the same mining difficulty, which is a 6-digit number. In terms of market value and stability, Sophon has shown great potential and will occupy 420 BTC when it is completed. Such a high market value will play a great role in helping Sophon and Atomicals protocol continue to stand out.

Each Sophon token locks in more Bitcoin, making its potential value growth greater in the event of a rise in Bitcoin prices. From a cost perspective, Sophon's economic model also demonstrates its efficiency and feasibility. The gas cost of creating a Sophon token is relatively lower, meaning that even in the extreme scenario of Sophon's value dropping to zero, investors can still retain a portion of their Bitcoin value.

Sophon's clever economic model is also reflected in the "wear rate". Based on a gas calculation of 50, the cost of a card is $50, but 42 dollars worth of Bitcoin is locked inside. If Sophon goes to zero, the $42 worth of Bitcoin is still real, so the true cost is around $10 in gas fees.

Calculating this way, the wear rate of Sophon is less than 30%. Of course, if there is more gas, the wear rate will be higher. Therefore, it is self-evident that the cost of casting is lower when the gas is low.

At this point, Dr. Jinguo and more voices on social media also reflect the market's optimistic expectations for ARC-20 tokens, especially Sophon. In a bull market, investing with ARC-20 not only brings a comfortable experience, but also realizes investment appreciation when the value of Bitcoin rises in the future. This is similar to the trend of young people storing "little gold beans".