How do I inscribe a BRC-20 NFT on the Bitcoin network?

Understanding BRC-20 Inscription Mechanics

1. BRC-20 inscription relies on the Ordinals protocol to assign metadata to individual satoshis using JSON-formatted data structures.

2. Each inscription must conform to a strict schema: {'p':'brc-20','op':'deploy','tick':'leel','max':'100000000'}, where 'p' declares the protocol, 'op' defines the operation type, 'tick' specifies the ticker symbol, and 'max' sets total supply.

3. Inscriptions are written directly onto Bitcoin blocks via taproot-enabled transactions, requiring precise adherence to SegWit v1 output formatting.

4. The process does not involve smart contracts; instead, every state change—deployment, minting, or transfer—is recorded as a new ordinal inscription referencing prior inscriptions by their transaction IDs.

5. All operations are immutable once confirmed, and no on-chain validation logic exists beyond syntactic parsing of the JSON payload.

Wallet Setup for Ordinal Compatibility

1. Install UniSat Wallet extension from its official Chrome Web Store listing; avoid third-party mirrors or modified builds.

2. During wallet creation, select Taproot address format explicitly—addresses must begin with bc1p, not bc1q or legacy 1-addresses.

3. Fund the wallet with sufficient BTC to cover both inscription fees and potential re-submission costs due to network congestion.

4. Verify that the wallet displays an 'Ordinal-ready' indicator before initiating any inscription flow.

5. Never reuse private keys across multiple inscription platforms; each wallet instance should be isolated for auditability and security.

Deploying a BRC-20 Token

1. Navigate to https://unisat.io/search and connect your UniSat wallet via the top-right button.

2. Switch to the BRC-20 tab and enter a four-character ticker in the search bar; absence of results confirms availability for deployment.

3. Click “Inscribe” → “BRC-20” → “Deploy”, then input the ticker, max supply, and mint limit—all fields are required and case-sensitive.

4. Choose fee rate carefully: low fees may delay confirmation for hours or days during peak usage periods on Bitcoin’s mempool.

5. After submission, monitor the transaction hash on a block explorer supporting Ordinals, such as Mempool.space or Ordinals.com.

Minting and Transferring Post-Deployment

1. Once deployed, minting requires a separate inscription with {'p':'brc-20','op':'mint','tick':'leel','amt':'1000000'} structure.

2. Transfer operations demand two inscriptions: one to declare intent (with recipient address embedded), and another to finalize settlement after recipient acknowledges.

3. Each mint or transfer consumes a unique satoshi, meaning balance tracking occurs off-chain through indexer services like Hiro or Dune dashboards.

4. Wallets do not auto-detect newly minted tokens; users must manually add tickers or rely on community-maintained token lists.

5. No native swap functionality exists within BRC-20; all exchanges occur through external marketplaces like Unisat Marketplace or OKX NFT trading interface.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I deploy a BRC-20 token with more than four characters?A: As of current consensus rules enforced by major indexers, only four-character tickers are recognized and indexed across all mainstream tools and explorers.

Q: Why does my inscription show as “unconfirmed” for over 24 hours?A: This typically results from submitting at a fee rate below prevailing mempool minimums; increasing priority requires resubmitting with higher sats/vB.

Q: Is it possible to recover accidentally sent BRC-20 tokens?A: Recovery is impossible without control of the destination private key; transfers are final and irreversible under Bitcoin’s consensus model.

Q: Do BRC-20 inscriptions consume more block space than regular transactions?A: Yes—each inscription adds up to 4MB of data depending on JSON size and encoding method, contributing significantly to block weight calculations.