Tech FAQ
Spore protocol is engineered to embed value into on-chain contents and non-fungible tokens.
Is Spore an NFT?
Yes and no. Spore is a new standard for non-fungible tokens that establish an intrinsic link between the token’s content and its value. Also, the content held by Spore is not only fully and permanently on-chain, but generative and dynamic as well.
Why include the content field in Spore itself?
Spore directly includes the content field, meaning the content is entirely on-chain. To understand the significance of this innovation, let's draw a comparison with ERC-721, a widely recognized NFT standard.
In ERC-721, the primary interface for content-related information is the tokenURI function, which is not directly associated with any on-chain operations, creating a potential vulnerability in the NFTs. Additionally, other ERC-721 interfaces appear as adaptations from ERC-20 with merely adjusted definitions.
In contrast, Spore's development centers around solving these core challenges—how to store content on-chain and how to transform this content into valuable assets. By including the content field directly within the NFT, Spore makes the content an intrinsic, immutable part of the blockchain.
Why combine content and content-type?
We combine content and content-type for two main reasons:
- Adhering to the MIME standard, a widely adopted and established convention in Web2
- Facilitating seamless integration with existing web services
The content-type field further enhances the interpretability of content in Spore, a feature that ERC-721 lacks.
The combination of content and content-type can not only ensures the security and permanence of NFTs, but also enhances the compatibility with Web2 through these key features:
- Extensibility: Seamlessly integrates with dynamic content engines and other customized logics.
- Programming Flexibility: Spore supports multiple languages, such as Lua and JavaScript, facilitating robust blockchain interactions.
- User-Friendly Design: Accessibility through JoyID, Google Passkey, and WebAuthn, with concealed transaction fees.
How Spore enables immutability with code_hash?
Opting code_hash: data1 over code_hash: type ensures that the version, once specified, remains unchanged over time, also guarantees the predictability of each version's behavior and the foreseeability of the results. Each upgrade necessitates a new contract and a new deployment. This way, the Spore owner is guaranteed with:
- Correct behavior of the Spores, as long as the script hash is correct
- Prevention of any future alterations to the Spore’s behavior
- Consistent behavior in both the test and production environments, as it is the same contract being deployed
This approach differs from ERC-721, which only defines an interface, leaving the behavior of ERC-721 tokens ambiguous until the their code is examined.
How can Spore’s tokenomics benefit creators and owners?
For Spore creators, owning CKBytes opens up two income flows: direct and indirect. Direct income comes from selling their Spores and get paid in fiat or cryptocurrency. Indirect income is generated from their use of on-chain space, aligning with CKB tokenomics which ensures that the more CKBytes are in use, fewer are locked up.
For Spore buyers, whenever they buy a Spore, they simultaneously own a portion of the space on CKB. As a result, they not only own non-fungible assets secured permanently on-chain, they also gain CKBytes by using the on-chain space where their Spores are stored.
Such tokenomics creates a sense of ownership and engagement among creators and holders, fostering a platform that is not only created by people but also owned by the same community it serves.
What is “Zero-fee Transfer“?
Unlike minting NFTs on networks like Ethereum, where unpredictable amount of gas are incurred for network processing, Spore Protocol develops a zero-fee transfer solution. You no longer need CKB to send or receive Spores, or any token for this matter. Every Spore comes pre-fueled with "gas," ensuring frictionless and fee-free transactions. Whether you can send a spore or melt it to unlock the CKB, there is no additional fees to worry about.
Why there's no need to deploy contract in Spore?
Unlike Ethereum where smart contracts are for generating outputs, contracts in CKB are for verification. A verification process is executed by applying the Spore type to a cell, each time when a cell is created, transferred, or destroyed.
Why is Spore‘s value redeemable?
This is due to the inherent "one-to-one" connection between the content and its value. The worth of anything contained within Spore is directly equivalent to the value associated with the content. When a Spore is destroyed, the remaining value is immediately reclaimed.