The first native ICO mechanism on the Bitcoin blockchain "PRECOP" is here! Featuring Simplicity contracts and atomic swaps, it enables direct token issuance without the need for cross-chain bridges.

Developer laz1m0v has demonstrated a Bitcoin L1-native ICO mechanism based on Blockstream Simplicity smart contracts. By utilizing atomic swaps and covenant scripts, token issuance is completed directly on the mainnet without the need for cross-chain bridges, sidechains, or third-party custodians. This framework, named PRECOP (Predictive Covenant Oracle Protocol), is natively compatible with BTC, BRC-20, and Runes asset formats and is currently in the alpha testing stage. (Context: Adam Back responds to BIP-361 "freezing Satoshi's BTC": The threat is distant, but upgrades should be prepared now) (Background: Michael Saylor warns BIP-110 is the greatest threat to Bitcoin; the four-year cycle is dead, and institutional capital is the real protagonist) The 2017 ICO craze took place entirely on Ethereum, and the Bitcoin mainnet never participated in that game. However, a developer has now assembled Blockstream's Simplicity smart contract language on L1 to create the first native token issuance mechanism on the Bitcoin mainnet that relies on no external plugins. It operates entirely through atomic swaps and covenant scripts, requiring neither cross-chain bridges nor sidechains. Atomic swaps combined with covenant scripts: No contract address to rug pull According to the Delving Bitcoin forum, the core logic of the mechanism is straightforward: users pay a specified amount of BTC as a stake, and the contract automatically transfers the corresponding tokens to the user via on-chain atomic swaps. The transactions are atomic; they either succeed entirely or roll back completely, with no intermediate state. The original author states that this mechanism is supported by the PRECOP (Predictive Covenant Oracle Protocol) framework and developed using the self-built precp_sdk tool. The contract is natively compatible with BTC, BRC-20, and Runes asset formats. It sets rigid transaction rules through covenant scripts within the Taproot MAST structure, enforced entirely by the Bitcoin mainnet's UTXO scripts, and is publicly auditable. The fundamental difference from Ethereum ICOs is that an Ethereum ICO involves sending funds to a smart contract address, with contract logic executed by the EVM. This Bitcoin solution directly leverages the atomic swap characteristics of the UTXO model, allowing covenant scripts to act as "hard rules," eliminating the need for a virtual machine. Simplicity: From 2012 concept to L1 Simplicity is a smart contract language conceived by Blockstream engineer Dr. Russell O’Connor in 2012 and officially launched on the Liquid Network in July 2025. It deliberately removes high-risk features common in Solidity, such as recursion, infinite loops, and global variables, instead using 9 combinators to construct any finite computation. All contracts can be mathematically verified via Coq before deployment to ensure correctness. Currently, Simplicity only has consensus-level support on the Liquid Network, a Bitcoin sidechain with a TVL of approximately $3.27 billion. PRECOP’s approach bypasses the consensus layer by adopting client-side validation, similar to the RGB protocol, allowing Simplicity contracts to operate on the mainnet via "local execution, on-chain settlement." This means security guarantees come from local computation rather than network-wide consensus; the Bitcoin mainnet does not currently "recognize" Simplicity logic, which is a deliberate design trade-off. PRECOP has been verified on the Bitcoin testnet Mutinynet and has deployed its first trustless covenant to the mainnet. However, the entire project is still in the v0.1.0-alpha stage, with only 11 commits on GitHub, and it has a long way to go before reaching production grade. laz1m0v himself asked on X: "Should we submit this mechanism to the Bitcoin mainnet?" Blockstream's long-term goal is to bring Simplicity from Liquid into the Bitcoin mainnet consensus layer. But to initiate that soft fork discussion, it must first accumulate sufficient real-world track record on Liquid. Given the Bitcoin community's cautious stance on protocol changes, that will not happen in the near term.