RGB Protocol on Bitcoin

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Short description: Bitcoin protocol for digital assets


RGB Protocol on Bitcoin is an open-source protocol to issue and transfer digital assets on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.[1][2].

RGB development is supported by the RGB Protocol Association, a Swiss organization founded in July 2025[3][4].

How RGB works

RGB allows the users to issue and transfer digital assets using client-side validation[5], meaning that only the parties involved in a transfer can access and validate the asset data. The Bitcoin blockchain only stores a cryptographic commitment inside an OP_RETURN output or a Taproot script path. This way, the parties can use the commitment to prove that some asset exists and has been transferred to someone else, without necessarily disclosing the real information to external users[6][7].

To prevent double-spending, this system relies on single-use seals (an idea first proposed by Peter Todd)[8]: just like a seal used to close a shipping container, a digital seal can be closed over a message only one time[9]. In RGB, every time that a user wants to change the state of an asset, they simply spend the UTXO where the commitment is defined, closing the seal over it[10].

Assets are defined by schemas that establish the rules to follow for changing owner and performing operations. For example, the total amount of tokens can be set at first issuance, or it can be inflated with a second emission. RGB v0.11.1 officially supports five schemas: NIA (Non-Inflatable Asset), IFA (Inflatable Fungible Asset), UDA (Unique Digital Asset), CFA (Collectible Fungible Asset) and PFA (Permissioned Fungible Asset)[11]. To check that the asset contract rules are respected, RGB uses a virtual machine called “AluVM”[12] that verifies the consistency between the inputs and outputs of any modification[10].

RGB History

The idea of RGB was born in 2015 from Blockchain Lab, a consultancy center led by Giacomo Zucco in Milan, and was later inspired by the primitive of client-side validation proposed by Peter Todd at the Scaling Bitcoin event in 2016[13][14]. According to Zucco’s idea, the transaction could be validated only by the sender and receiver, while miners received only a commitment to be included in the blocks[13].

Zucco presented the idea at the Building on Bitcoin 2018 conference [15], and the first prototype was developed by Alekos Filini, transforming the theory into code [14][13][16][17]. In the years, the project became the interest of companies like Bitfinex and Fulgur Ventures [18], and the development was first managed by the Ukrainian software engineer Maxim Orlovsky, and then by a group of developers in a dedicated team under Bitfinex [14][19].

In July 2025, RGB v0.11.1 launched on Bitcoin mainnet[2][20][7], and the RGB Protocol Association was founded in Switzerland to support its development[3]. In August 2025, Tether Limited announced plans to launch its stablecoin USDT on Bitcoin, using RGB Protocol v0.11.1[21][22][23].

In July 2026, Bitcoin Magazine reported that Utexo, a wallet stack built on RGB, was enabling private USDT settlements over Lightning[24].

RGB Ecosystem

Among the applications that support RGB v0.11.1, there are the following: 

   • Iris Wallet: desktop wallet with Lightning Network integration[25];
   • KaleidoSwap: decentralized exchange on Bitcoin Lightning using RGB[26][27];
   • Utexo: mobile wallet development kit combining RGB and Lightning to exchange USDT on Bitcoin[24].
   • LNFI Network: decentralized order-book trading platform for RGB assets on Lightning, using Nostr for order matching [28]

See also

cols

References

  1. ↑ "RGB Protocol on Bitcoin". RGB Info. https://rgb.info. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Zarraga Perez, Oscar (2025-07-22). "RGB v0.11.1 Launches, Allowing The Creation Of Digital Assets On Bitcoin Mainnet". Bitcoin Magazine. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/rgb-v0-11-1-launches-allowing-the-creation-of-digital-assets-on-bitcoin-mainnet. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "RGB Protocol Association is born: Swiss organization to accelerate RGB development". Atlas21. 2025-07-16. https://atlas21.com/en/rgb-protocol-association-is-born/. 
  4. ↑ "About — RGB Protocol Association". RGB Protocol Association. https://rgbprotocol.org/about/. 
  5. ↑ "Client-side validation". Bitcoin Optech. https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/client-side-validation/. 
  6. ↑ "Client-Side Validation". RGB Protocol Technical documentation. https://docs.rgb.info/distributed-computing-concepts/client-side-validation. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Reguerra, Ezra (2025-07-17). "RGB protocol launches on Bitcoin, enables tokenized USDT and NFTs". Cointelegraph. https://cointelegraph.com/news/rgb-protocol-launches-on-bitcoin-enables-tokenized-usdt-and-nfts. 
  8. ↑ Peter Todd (2016-12-07). "Preventing Consensus Fraud with Commitments and Single-Use-Seals". https://petertodd.org/2016/commitments-and-single-use-seals. 
  9. ↑ Ferretti, Luca (2020-02-07). "Peter Todd: single-use-seals in the cryptocurrencies world". Codemotion. https://www.codemotion.com/magazine/uncategorized/peter-todd/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Single-Use Seals". RGB Protocol Technical documentation. https://docs.rgb.info/distributed-computing-concepts/single-use-seals. 
  11. ↑ "Supported Schemas". RGB Protocol Technical documentation. https://docs.rgb.info/rgb-contract-implementation/schema/supported-schemas. 
  12. ↑ "Glossary — AluVM". RGB Protocol Technical documentation. https://docs.rgb.info/annexes/glossary#aluvm. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Costea, Vlad (2019-08-01). "Video Interview: Giacomo Zucco And RGB Tokens Built On Bitcoin". Bitcoin Magazine. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/video-interview-giacomo-zucco-rgb-tokens-built-bitcoin. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "The History of RGB Protocol on Bitcoin". RGB Info. https://rgb.info/history-rgb-protocol-on-bitcoin/. 
  15. ↑ Tomasicchio, Amelia (2018-07-10). "Zucco introduces us to the RGB protocol". Cryptonomist. https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2018/07/10/rgb-protocol/. 
  16. ↑ "Building on Bitcoin - Assets on Bitcoin". Breaking Bitcoin (YouTube). 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWxtmgQP94. 
  17. ↑ Tomasicchio, Amelia (2018-12-15). "Alekos Filini, "Lightning Network is much more efficient than Ethereum"". Cryptonomist. https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2018/12/15/alekos-filini-lightning-network/. 
  18. ↑ "Fulgur Ventures and Tether invest in a company dedicated to RGB development". Atlas21. 2024-12-24. https://atlas21.com/fulgur-ventures-and-tether-invest-in-a-company-dedicated-to-rgb-development/. 
  19. ↑ "Will USDt-on-RGB accelerate RGB Adoption?". Bitfinex. https://blog.bitfinex.com/industry-news/will-usdt-on-rgb-accelerate-rgb-adoption/. 
  20. ↑ "RGB protocol is now live: asset tokenization arrives on Bitcoin and Lightning Network". Atlas21. 2026-05-06. https://atlas21.com/rgb-protocol-is-now-live-asset-tokenization-arrives-on-bitcoin-and-lightning-network/. 
  21. ↑ "Tether announces plan to bring USDt to RGB". Tether. 2025-08-27. https://tether.to/en/tether-makes-history-with-first-native-bitcoin-usdt-using-rgb-protocol/. 
  22. ↑ Di Salvo, Mat (2025-08-28). "Tether Brings USDT to Bitcoin Via Layer-2 Network RGB". Decrypt. https://decrypt.co/337203/tether-brings-usdt-bitcoin-layer-2-network-rgb. 
  23. ↑ "Tether to bring native stablecoin rail to Bitcoin with USDT rollout on RGB". The Block. 2025-08-28. https://www.theblock.co/post/368613/tether-to-bring-native-stablecoin-rail-to-bitcoin-with-usdt-rollout-on-rgb. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Galt, Juan (2026-07-06). "USDT Returns to Bitcoin: RGB and UTEXO Enable Private Lightning Settlements". Bitcoin Magazine. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/usdt-returns-to-bitcoin-rgb-and-utexo-enable-private-lightning-settlements. 
  25. ↑ "Iris Wallet Desktop launches: first interface for RGB protocol on Lightning Network". Atlas21. 2025-01-30. https://atlas21.com/en/iris-wallet-desktop-launches/. 
  26. ↑ "KaleidoSwap Raises Pre-Seed for the First RGB-powered Lightning DEX". KaleidoSwap. 2025-09-08. https://kaleidoswap.com/blog/pre-seed-investment. 
  27. ↑ Nguyen, Vivian (2025-09-08). "Bitfinex invests in KaleidoSwap to establish the first Bitcoin-native DEX". CryptoBriefing. https://cryptobriefing.com/bitcoin-native-dex-kaleidoswap-launch/. 
  28. ↑ Galt, Juan (2025-06-27). "Lnfi Network Integrates RGB Protocol To Enhance Lightning Network". Bitcoin Magazine. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/lnfi-network-integrates-rgb-protocol-to-enhance-lightning-network. 


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