SatStation

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Problem

Bitcoin’s architecture is fundamentally secure and decentralized, but it wasn’t designed with programmability in mind. This limits developers who want to launch fungible tokens with complex functionalities like whitelisting, fixed pricing, or bonding curves. Existing solutions either require centralized intermediaries or workarounds that compromise decentralization and often involve prohibitively long minting times—upwards of 10 minutes per transaction. This makes Bitcoin an unappealing choice for decentralized token launches and hinders innovation by limiting programmable capabilities.

Solution

SatStation resolves these limitations by delivering the fastest, fully programmable launchpad for fungible tokens on Bitcoin, utilizing the Runes standard and decentralized multiparty computation (MPC) from the NEAR protocol. SatStation not only reduces minting time from over 10 minutes to just 5 seconds but also introduces programmability to Bitcoin token launches powered by WASM-based NEAR native smart contract.

What it does

With SatStation, developers can create decentralized launches featuring logic for whitelisting, fixed prices, bonding curves, and more—while ensuring the assets are still natively secured by Bitcoin’s blockchain. This unique approach combines Bitcoin’s unparalleled security with the flexibility previously reserved for more programmable blockchains, opening up new possibilities for creators and innovators to build confidently on Bitcoin.

How we built it

SatStation leverages NEAR’s chain signature and meta-transactions to provide a seamless and efficient experience for creating and managing Runes on Bitcoin. Here’s an overview of how it works:

Sign-in and Creation of NEAR Implicit Accounts

To create a Bitcoin-native experience, we only allow Bitcoin wallets like Unisat to connect to SatStation. When users sign in for the first time, we create a deterministic NEAR account for their specific Bitcoin address. This account’s private key is generated on the frontend by the user, based on their Bitcoin signature.

Launching & Etching Runes

When users deploy new Runes via SatStation, the tokens are stored on NEAR’s fungible token smart contract, which is linked to a specific Bitcoin address derived through NEAR’s chain signature and account aggregation. This approach allows Runes to be managed by NEAR’s smart contract, enabling features like fixed pricing or bonding curves. After that, our backend generates a unique Taproot address (called the “Commit Address”) based on the Rune’s name and sends it to the user. The user then funds the Commit Address with Bitcoin, initiating the Rune etching transaction through their Bitcoin wallet. This pre-mines 100% of the supply into a Bitcoin address controlled by the NEAR smart contract. The backend checks that the Commit Address has been funded with 6 confirmed blocks (per the Runes standard), then spends from the Commit Address to etch the new Rune and finalizes the Rune launch process on the NEAR smart contract, making it ready for minting.

Buying & Minting Runes

When users buy and mint Runes, this transaction happens solely on the NEAR blockchain, completing in just under 5 seconds. Using NEAR’s implicit accounts, users can deposit fungible tokens (like wNEAR, wBTC, USDC, or USDT). Once funds are deposited, users can buy Runes on SatStation without any gas fees because we are using NEAR’s meta-transaction relayer to cover the gas.

Peg-out & Withdrawal to Bitcoin

After buying and minting Runes, users can withdraw them directly to their Bitcoin account. When a withdrawal is requested, our backend checks the user’s Rune balance, burns the corresponding fungible tokens on NEAR, and creates a partially signed Bitcoin transaction (PSBT) using NEAR’s chain signature. This PSBT is sent back to the user, who can then confirm it with their Bitcoin wallet and broadcast the fully signed transaction to the Bitcoin network, claiming the Rune on their Bitcoin address.

Challenges we ran into

Designing a Bitcoin-Native Experience with Implicit Accounts

Creating a seamless Bitcoin-native experience that uses NEAR’s implicit accounts presented a significant challenge. We want to make sure that the NEAR part is invisible to the users. I delved into the complexities of achieving this, examining different approaches and ultimately studying and inspired by the codebase of Bitte’s Wallet on how they use PassKey, which provided insights into implementing a proper and efficient solution. This in-depth exploration helped refine the user experience, enabling a smooth and intuitive interaction with Bitcoin-native accounts in SatStation.

What's next for SatStation

• Integrate with SatoshiBridge for seamless Bitcoin as payment method both on Bitcoin & NEAR blockchain
• Add for custom launch features like whitelisting and bonding-curve (or even a memecoin-like launchpad but for runes)

Built With

• bitcoin
• chainsignature
• metaprotocol
• near
• runes
• rust
• typescript