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Protocol Comparison: Reality Check

IMPORTANT: This comparison shows what actually exists vs what Sparkle proposes. Green = Working Today, Yellow = Partial, Red = Doesn't Exist.

Feature Comparison Matrix

Feature Sparkle Protocol BRC-20 Runes GBRC-721 Stamps
Status Proposed Only Live on Mainnet Live on Mainnet Live on Mainnet Live on Mainnet
Implementation None Multiple indexers Native in ord Working collections Counterparty protocol
Wallet Support 0 wallets UniSat, Xverse, Hiro Xverse, UniSat UniSat, OKX Freewallet, Rare
Marketplace Support 0 marketplaces Magic Eden, OKX, UniSat Magic Eden, OKX Magic Eden Scarce.city, Rare
Indexer Not built BestInSlot, UniSat ord native OrdinalHub Counterparty
Documentation Academic paper only Complete docs + examples Official ord docs GitHub + examples Counterparty docs
Test Collections None 1000s deployed 100s deployed Multiple collections Years of history
Lightning Integration Proposed (not built) No No No No
Cost Optimization Theory: 92% reduction Text-only: Low cost UTXO efficient 50% reduction proven Higher cost
Trading Volume $0 $1B+ $100M+ $10M+ $50M+

Technical Implementation Status

Component What Sparkle Needs Current Status Effort Required
Protocol Spec JSON metadata standard [OK] Defined Complete
Inscription Method ord wallet inscribe [OK] Works today None
Lightning SDK spark.money integration [OK] SDK exists Integration only
Indexer Service Detect protocol markers ✗ Not built 200+ hours
Wallet Plugin Lightning + Ordinals ✗ Not built 400+ hours
Trading API HTLC coordination ✗ Not built 100+ hours
Marketplace UI Lightning badge/flow ✗ Not built Partnership needed
Production Deploy Live infrastructure ✗ Not deployed $5K+ monthly

Actual Innovation Assessment

What's Actually New?

What's Not New?

Development Effort Comparison

Protocol Time to Launch Team Size Current State
BRC-20 2 months 1 developer Billion dollar market
Runes 6 months Casey + contributors Native ord support
GBRC-721 3 months Small team Active collections
Sparkle (estimate) 3-6 months 2-3 developers needed Not started

Risk Assessment

Why Sparkle Might Succeed:

Why Sparkle Might Fail:

Overall Protocol Scores

Sparkle Protocol

2/10

Good idea, zero implementation

BRC-20

9/10

Fully deployed, huge adoption

Runes

8/10

Native support, growing fast

GBRC-721

6/10

Works well, limited adoption

The Verdict

Should You Build on Sparkle Protocol?

NO - Not yet.

Reasons:

  1. Zero infrastructure exists
  2. No wallets support it
  3. No marketplaces will show your NFTs
  4. You'd be building everything from scratch
  5. High risk of wasted effort

Use Instead:

When Sparkle Makes Sense:

Only if someone builds the infrastructure first. Wait for: