BSV Standards & Protocols Reference

Comprehensive index of BSV blockchain standards, protocols, and specifications.

Quick Reference

Category Standards Description
BRCs BRC-1 to BRC-100+ Official BSV Request for Comments
BitCom AIP, MAP, B, BAP, SIGMA Data protocols using Bitcoin addresses as prefixes
Tokens BSV-20, BSV-21, STAS Fungible token standards
Ordinals 1Sat Ordinals NFT inscriptions on BSV
Identity Paymail, BAP Identity and addressing standards
Off-Chain bitcoin-auth, bitcoin-backup, bitcoin-image Authentication, backup, URL standards
Data Schema Bitcoin Schema, Ord Schema Standardized on-chain data structures

Official BRC Standards

Reference: https://bsv.brc.dev/ -- 100+ standards across 12 categories.

For the complete index of every BRC, consult references/brc-index.md.

Key Categories

Category Key BRCs Description
Wallet BRC-1 to BRC-7, BRC-46, BRC-50, BRC-53, BRC-56, BRC-65, BRC-66, BRC-73, BRC-97-100, BRC-109, BRC-111-112 Wallet-to-app interface, transaction creation, encryption, baskets, labels, certificates
Transactions BRC-8, BRC-9, BRC-10-13, BRC-30, BRC-58, BRC-61, BRC-62, BRC-67, BRC-71, BRC-74, BRC-76, BRC-83, BRC-95-96 TX formats (BEEF, EF, Raw), Merkle proofs (CMP, BUMP, JSON, Binary), SPV
Scripts BRC-14-19, BRC-21, BRC-47, BRC-48, BRC-106 P2PKH, R-Puzzle, Push Drop, Push TX, Multi-Sig, Script formats
Key Derivation BRC-32, BRC-42-44, BRC-69, BRC-72, BRC-75, BRC-84, BRC-86, BRC-93-94 BIP32, Type42/BKDS, protocol IDs, key linkage, mnemonics, Schnorr
Payments BRC-27-29, BRC-41, BRC-54-55, BRC-70, BRC-105 DPP, Paymail, PacketPay, service monetization
Overlays BRC-22-26, BRC-64, BRC-81, BRC-87-88, BRC-101 Overlay sync, CHIP, CLAP, lookup, SHIP/SLAP
Peer-to-Peer BRC-31, BRC-33-34, BRC-52, BRC-63, BRC-68, BRC-77-78, BRC-82, BRC-85, BRC-103-104 Authrite, PeerServ, identity certificates, PIKE, message signing
Tokens BRC-45, BRC-79, BRC-92, BRC-107-108, BRC-113 UTXO tokens, Mandala, identity-linked tokens
Outpoints BRC-36-37 Outpoint format, spending instructions
Opinions BRC-49, BRC-51, BRC-57, BRC-59, BRC-80, BRC-89-91, BRC-110 UX guidance, scalability, Web 3.0 vision
State Machines BRC-60 Event chains in Bitcoin
Apps BRC-102 deployment-info.json spec

BitCom Protocols

Data protocols using Bitcoin addresses as OP_RETURN prefixes.

AIP (Author Identity Protocol)

Prefix: 15PciHG22SNLQJXMoSUaWVi7WSqc7hCfva Signs content with Bitcoin addresses for verifiable authorship. Similar to Sigma protocol but does not require inputs.

OP_RETURN | <data> | AIP_PREFIX | "BITCOIN_ECDSA" | <address> | <signature>

Use cases: Content authentication, author verification

MAP (Magic Attribute Protocol)

Prefix: 1PuQa7K62MiKCtssSLKy1kh56WWU7MtUR5

Key-value metadata storage on-chain.

OP_RETURN | MAP_PREFIX | "SET" | "key1" | "value1" | "key2" | "value2"

Commands: SET, DEL, ADD, SELECT

Use cases: Metadata, tags, attributes, social data

B (Binary) Protocol

Prefix: 19HxigV4QyBv3tHpQVcUEQyq1pzZVdoAut

Arbitrary file storage on-chain.

OP_RETURN | B_PREFIX | <data> | <media-type> | <encoding> | [filename]

Use cases: Images, documents, any binary data

BAP (Bitcoin Attestation Protocol)

Prefix: 1BAPSuaPnfGnSBM3GLV9yhxUdYe4vGbdMT

Identity attestation and management.

OP_RETURN | BAP_PREFIX | "ID" | <identity-key> | <address> | [attributes]

Use cases: Identity creation, attestations, key rotation

SIGMA

Prefix: SIGMA

Transaction-bound signatures for OP_RETURN data.

OP_RETURN | <data> | SIGMA | <algorithm> | <address> | <signature> | <vin>

Algorithms: BSM (Bitcoin Signed Message), BRC-77 (SignedMessage)

Use cases: Multi-party signing, transaction authentication

Token Standards

BSV-20

Fungible tokens using inscription format.

{"p":"bsv-20","op":"deploy","tick":"TOKEN","max":"21000000","lim":"1000"}
{"p":"bsv-20","op":"mint","tick":"TOKEN","amt":"1000"}
{"p":"bsv-20","op":"transfer","tick":"TOKEN","amt":"100"}

Operations: deploy, mint, transfer, burn

BSV-21

Enhanced fungible tokens with contract control.

Features: Programmable supply, transfer rules, metadata

STAS (Simplified Token And Smart Contracts)

Native token protocol using Bitcoin script-level enforcement.

Website: https://www.stastoken.com/ Documentation: https://docs.stastoken.com/

Features:

  • Script-enforced token transfers (no indexer required for validation)
  • Fungible and non-fungible token support
  • Atomic swaps and contract capabilities
  • Native Bitcoin script validation

Run (Defunct)

Early BSV token protocol (runonbitcoin.com - no longer operational).

Status: Abandoned protocol from early BSV days. Stored data on-chain using B protocol, so historical artifacts remain accessible via ORDFS (ordfs.network).

Ordinals (1Sat Ordinals)

NFT inscriptions using ordinal theory on BSV.

Inscription Format

OP_0 OP_IF "ord" OP_1 <content-type> OP_0 <content> OP_ENDIF

Key Concepts

  • Inscription: Data embedded in transaction scripts
  • Ordinal ID: <txid>_<vout> unique identifier
  • Collections: Grouped inscriptions with parent reference

Marketplace: https://ordinals.gorillapool.io

Identity Standards

Paymail

Human-readable payment addressing (BRC-29).

Format: user@domain.com

Capabilities:

  • pki - Public key infrastructure
  • paymentDestination - Get payment address
  • p2p-payment-destination - Peer-to-peer payments
  • receive-transaction - Direct transaction delivery

BAP Identity

On-chain identity management.

Components:

  • Root address (identity anchor)
  • Identity key (deterministic ID)
  • Attestations (claims about identity)
  • Key rotation (address transitions)

Off-Chain Standards

bitcoin-auth

HTTP authentication using Bitcoin private keys.

Token Format: pubkey|scheme|timestamp|requestPath|signature

Schemes: brc77 (recommended), bsm

bitcoin-backup

Encrypted backup file standard (.bep files).

Encryption: AES-256-GCM, PBKDF2-SHA256 (600k iterations)

Types: BapMasterBackup, BapMemberBackup, WifBackup, OneSatBackup, VaultBackup

bitcoin-image

On-chain image reference normalization.

Protocols: b://, ord://, bitfs://, ipfs://, data:, native txid

Outpoint Formats: txid_vout, txid.vout, txido0, /content/txid_vout

Data Schema Standards

Bitcoin Schema

Website: https://bitcoinschema.org

Standardized data structures for on-chain data built on MAP and B protocols.

Types: Post, Like, Follow, Reply, Repost, Friend, Message, Payment, Ordinal

Ord Schema Type

Docs: https://docs.1satordinals.com/adding-metadata/ord-schema-type

Base metadata schema for ordinals inscriptions.

Required: app, type ("ord"), name

Optional: subType, subTypeData, royalties, previewUrl

Related Packages

Package Purpose
@bsv/sdk Core BSV functionality
@b-open-io/templates Script template implementations (replaces bmapjs)
js-1sat-ord Ordinals/inscriptions (migrating to @1sat/sdk - in progress)
bsv-bap BAP identity management
sigma-protocol SIGMA signing
bitcoin-auth HTTP authentication
bitcoin-backup Encrypted backup files
bitcoin-image URL normalization

Deprecated: bmapjs - replaced by @b-open-io/templates

Additional Resources

Reference Files

  • references/brc-index.md - Complete BRC specification index
  • references/bitcom-protocols.md - Detailed BitCom protocol specs
  • references/token-standards.md - BSV-20/BSV-21/1Sat Ordinals details
  • references/implementations.md - Local repo implementations and packages
  • references/offchain-standards.md - Off-chain standards (auth, backup, image)

External Links