On November 18, Cointext founder Vin Armani published a blog post that describes a new system called the ‘Simple Ledger Postage Protocol.’ The SLP concept allows wallets to send SLP tokens without having to use bitcoin cash (BCH) as ‘gas’ to forward transactions.
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The Simple Ledger Postage Protocol
Cointext CTO Vin Armani recently published a blog post called “Simple Ledger Postage Protocol: Enabling A True SLP Token Ecosystem On Bitcoin Cash,” which describes a method of sending SLP-based tokens without using BCH for ‘gas.’ In the post, Armani says that tokens like ERC20s stemming from Ethereum have suffered from the ‘dual currency’ requirement for years. Armani’s post stresses that more recently “similar proposals have arisen as ERC865 and EIP965” that address the issue. But to Armani “these solutions are quite complex and, to date, do not seem to be attracting significant interest from the overall community.”
The Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) universe has matured a great deal over the last year.
The Cointext engineer explains that in order to move SLP tokens, a small fraction of BCH is needed to push the transaction. “It’s the ‘gas’ problem all over again,” Armani highlights. “At least that was the case until the publication of the Simple Ledger Postage Protocol (SLPP) as an official SLP specification.”
“[For] the sender of SLP tokens to effectuate a transaction without the need for additional native Bitcoin Cash (BCH) inputs to cover output balance and/or miner fees,” describes the purpose of the new SLPP specification. “Use of this protocol enables wallets to exclusively support SLP tokens without also, simultaneously, having to act as a wallet for native BCH.” The software engineer’s blog post adds:
In essence, the Postage Protocol allows users to pay for their miner fees using the SLP token itself. This is accomplished through the use of an intermediary server called a “post office.” The user sends the post office the requisite value of the needed BCH as an additional output in a transaction. Upon receiving and validating the otherwise invalid transaction, the post office attaches additional input containing native BCH (“stamps”) and then broadcasts the “postage paid” (valid) transaction to the network.
The specifications for the Simple Ledger Postage Protocol can be found here on Github.
Tokens as First-Class Citizens Makes so Much Sense
Armani notes that wallets using the SLPP system can utilize a UX where BCH for gas is never needed. This could make it so tokens, token creators and supporters can essentially “treat their own token as a first-class citizen.” “With a user experience that mirrors the experience that can already be had with Bitcoin Cash when using BCH,” Armani’s post underlines. “Stablecoins, utility coins, and rewards points can all be used in standalone wallets, without the user ever needing to even know that they are transacting on a Bitcoin network at all.”
In the blog post, there’s also a demonstration video that shows the Simple Ledger Postage Protocol in action with Badger Wallet and the stablecoin honestcoin (USDH). Moreover, Armani’s firm Cointext is offering the first SLP post office and the system is now live. Currently, users can test the new SLPP framework with the SLP tokens honestcoin (USDH), spice token (SPICE) and anypay gold (GOLD).
The BCH community seemed excited about Armani and Cointext’s new SLPP idea and BCH supporters discussed the idea on Reddit and Twitter. The creator of the cryptocurrencies Zclassic and Bitcoin Private, Rhett Creighton, told Armani “this is absolutely incredible — full disclosure I’m buying more BCH today after reading this.” “After reading the article it seems like eventually, you will be able to use multiple versions of ‘gas’ just like USDH and probably I guess SAI and etc., (auto conversion services later I presume),” another individual asked the Cointext founder on Twitter. “[It] can be used with any SLP token that a post office is willing to support,” Armani replied. “Every few days, BCH surprises me with what is possible,” a Bitcoin Cash fan wrote in reply about the postage concept on the Reddit forum r/btc. “Tokens as first-class citizens makes so much sense.”
What do you think about the Simple Ledger Postage Protocol? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Simpleledger.cash, Twitter, and Medium.
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