A comprehensive analysis of the first metaverse project in Bitcoin ecology: Bitmap.land

Author: ck, MetaCat

This article will give a comprehensive introduction to Bitmap.land, the first Metaverse project in the Bitcoin ecosystem, and discuss the significance of Bitmap.land to the Bitcoin ecosystem and Metaverse.

**1. What is Bitmap.land? **

"Some inventions are more like discoveries" - Bitoshi Blockamoto

Bitmap.land is the first Metaverse project of the Bitcoin ecosystem. The project is based on Ordinals theory and Bitmap theory, and is currently being sold on the primary market of virtual land.

Ordinals theory

The ordinal number theory is to number the smallest unit of Bitcoin "Satoshi" (Satoshi) and define the scarcity of Satoshi. It can be understood as: each "Satoshi" is a box, each box has a number, and its scarcity is determined by the production time of the box, and then the box can be used to hold things.

Bitmap theory

Bitmap theory was proposed by Twitter user @blockamoto on June 13, 2023. The theory can be simply understood as:

The theory of mapping the transaction input of each transaction (Tx) in the Bitcoin block into a parcel (Parcel), since the size of the transaction input of each transaction is different, the size of the mapped parcel is also different. And the plots mapped to each transaction input in a block form a block/area (District). The figure below shows the block landscape of Bitcoin block 796005, which is mapped by bitmap theory.

What I want to say here is that buyers of Bitmap.land virtual land are greatly influenced by Decentraland and The Sandbox. Regardless of the bitmap theory itself, they directly start to enclose and draw pictures on the map (see the picture below), and play Decentraland and The Sandbox in another place. The logic of Sandbox buying land.

Then write each Bitcoin block into Satoshi through the inscribe method to obtain the ownership of the Bitcoin block (this action can be simply equivalent to Free mint).

The picture below is the official website of Bitmap.land (the current function is mainly to present the "metaverse map". It divides the Bitcoin block into four blocks according to the halving cycle (corresponding to the area where the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4 are located) ), you can see the number and color of each block after zooming in, and different colors represent the sale status.

The words "651154 / 796101 (claimed / blocks)" in the middle of the top indicate that the current Bitcoin block height is 796101, and the number of blocks that have been mint is 651154, accounting for about 82% of the current total blocks**.

The figure below shows the details of the Bitmap.land map. The numbers in the figure are the Bitcoin block numbers, and the different colors of the blocks represent the sale status.

Judging from the sales ranking of the Bitcoin NFT category in the past 7 days, Bitmap ranks first. The floor price of Bitmap.land is 0.0002 BTC, the 7-day sales are 4.6 BTC, and the 7-day sales have increased by 440%. The data is relatively beautiful, and there is obviously quite a fomo sentiment.

**Second, what do you think of Bitmap.land based on Ordinals theory? **

The virtual land sale of Bitmap.land cannot be separated from the ordinal number theory, just like the virtual land sale of Decentraland and The Sandbox cannot be separated from ERC-721. Friends who are familiar with the early history of Bitcoin must know about dyed coins. In principle, the ordinal number theory is almost the same as that of dyed coins. But you can’t look at the ordinal number theory from the perspective of looking at dyed coins. After all, the narrative, consensus, ecology, and infrastructure of Bitcoin in 2023 are very different from those in 2013. But the ordinal number theory is obviously not an innovation at the ERC-721 level (the latter endows digital items with physical reality for the first time, making it the first time in the blockchain field that there are truly "things" that can be owned and traded), BRC-20 is even more outrageous, like slash-and-burn farming in modern society. As far as Bitmap theory itself is concerned, it can be regarded as adding a new interpretation of meaning to Bitcoin blocks. It is topical, but obviously lacks usefulness.

**Third, the sale of land in Metaverse is really a new story, can it still work? **

The sale of land in the metaverse can be said to be a story that has been spoiled. Think about the unfinished virtual land projects in the past cycle. Bitmap.land tells the story of the issuance of metaverse land in the Bitcoin ecology, not to mention the importance of virtual land in the metaverse system. As far as the issuance of virtual land is concerned, selling scarcity is a bit of an upside down. In other words, scarcity should be the result of a combination of factors such as creativity, attention, and traffic, rather than wishful thinking in the initial sales stage of the project party.

**4. Does Metaverse need Bitmap.land? **

For the metaverse, the blockchain only solves the problem of asset ownership. The EVM system has already done a good job in this regard, and Bitmap.land can't help much. The essence of the metaverse is to create new experiences based on the blockchain. Ownership is the basis of the experience, but nothing more.

There is a high probability that relying on the clever block landscape will not work, because it has not solved any substantive problems. Of course, it does not rule out that Bitmap.land is using fakes to cultivate the truth, and the real big move is yet to come. Of course, there is short-term value, after all, hype value is also a kind of value :)

**5. Does Bitcoin need Bitmap.land? **

Judging from the transaction data mentioned above, the Bitcoin ecology is obviously still relatively Buy in, although it may only be a short-term Buy in. The author does not have an in-depth understanding of the Bitcoin ecology, and it is difficult to judge the long-term value of Bitmap.land to the Bitcoin ecology. However, from the author's physical experience of purchasing Bitmap.land virtual land, it takes a little longer to wait for the transaction to complete (after all, it takes 6 Block confirmation), does this mean that improving the throughput of the chain is a more important thing?

**6. What else can Bitmap.land do for the Metaverse? **

The biggest problem in the metaverse space right now is interoperability. In the long run, only by addressing interoperability can the Metaverse truly thrive. At the same time, some interoperability solutions have indeed appeared in the industry. For example, ReadyPlayerMe improves the interoperability of the Metaverse by providing a universal Avatar and integrating downstream applications. Another example is Decentraland's recently launched "World", which opens the 3D scene editor to All creators, rather than being bundled and sold in virtual land, are also a kind of exploration.

From a functional perspective, the Metaverse can be simply summarized as the following formula:

Metaverse = 3D scene editor + 3D scene traffic distribution

The functions and forms of the 3D scene editor tend to be unified in the industry, and the following consensus has been reached: no longer bundle the 3D scene editor for sale in the virtual land, but deliver it to creators in a nearly free form.

3D scene traffic distribution, the industry does not have a good model at present, and it is also an area worth exploring. If you can gather consensus and gather traffic, you might as well try it from this direction. Selling land or speculating on the scarcity of plots can indeed bring about a short-term increase in miner fees, but it is obviously unsustainable in the long run.

The above analysis is mainly from the perspective of products. However, only products that truly match the market demand are good products. Therefore, discovering users' needs for Metaverse is more important than building products! **